A website that documents the Carnegie-funded libraries in New England—maintained by a librarian, of course—has been updated to include academic libraries. Of the 95 public and academic libraries that Carnegie money helped to build in New England, all but 3 are still standing. If we add in the Carnegie-era libraries that have preserved the original building even as they have been added on to—like New Canaan, Ridgefield, and many others—the number would be even higher. That says something about the enduring value of libraries. Think about it the next time you see a 20-year-old strip mall being torn down to build a new strip mall.
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I received an e-mail with a link to a site about New Englang Carnegie libraries and I added it to my favorites. I think these libraries and their stories are great.
ReplyDeleteI saw that email, too, but I first found this site 3 years ago, when I was doing a paper on Andrew Carnegie for my Foundations class. I love the old libraries.
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