Industrialist Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation significantly influenced the development and expansion of public library systems worldwide. Between 1886 and 1921 Carnegie funds assisted in the construction of 1,681 city and 108 college libraries in the United States. As a region, the Mid-West, Kansas included, did not have a well established public library system until the Carnegie Program and ranks highest in the number of communities which obtained Carnegie Libraries nationwide. Out of the forty-six states to participate in the library building program, Kansas ranks approximately eleventh in the number of Carnegie Libraries built. For many Kansas communities, the Carnegie Library represented its first library building, providing an environment that all members of the community could share for the purposes of reading, learning, and education.
Sixty-three Carnegie funded libraries were built in Kansas during the first three decades of the Twentieth Century ; four of these libraries were built on college campuses. In most cases, the Carnegie funded library represented the community's first library building although many Kansas communities had book clubs and library organizations well before the Carnegie Corporation Library Building Program was founded. In the case of the four college libraries, the building represented the first structure which was solely devoted to housing the institution's books and providing study space. Carnegie did not no hgui solicit interest in the program, with the exception of the Anderson (Carnegie) Memorial Library which was built by Carnegie as a memorial to his friend John Anderson and was the first college library nationally to receive Carnegie funding. Communities initiated contact with the corporation by letter, indicating their desire for a Carnegie funded library. If the Corporation responded favorably to the request, a firm local commitment to the program's requirements, which generally resulted in a public election in support of the library, followed. Obviously, these actions represented a perceived need within the community for a library building and the Carnegie Corporation Library Building Program represented an excellent way to secure the funds to build one. Many of the Carnegie Libraries built in Kansas reflect the high space utilization design guidelines promoted Toy the Carnegie Corporation after 1910, underscoring the point that before the Carnegie Corporation Library Building Program, few architects and /or builders had experience designing this building type. - US NRHP
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| Carnegie Corporation: | Carnegie Corporation |
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