London Public Library, 1895, enlarged 1903. London already had a library building when the Carnegie grant programme began in Ontario, and was one of the few larger communities which did not apply for a grant.
Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919, the Scottish immigrant boy who went on to make a fortune in the steel industry of the United States, declared his philosophy of philanthropy or trusteeship of wealth in two essays, written in 1889. In the first, “Wealth,” Carnegie advocated that although the surplus funds of wealthy men should be distributed to provide for the welfare and happiness of the common man, such distribution should be as assistance, not for the total funding of a project. This admonition was due to his strong belief that no individual or group was improved by charity—or “alms giving.”1
In his second essay, entitled “The best fields for philanthropy” he listed what he considered to be worthy of philanthropy as universities, libraries, medical centers, public parks, meeting and concert halls, public baths and churches. But the “best gift” that could be given to a community, he suggested, was a free library, “provided the community will accept and maintain it as a public institution, as much a part of the city property as its public schools, and, indeed, as an adjunct to these.”2
Carnegie’s interest in libraries began early in his life. His father, William Carnegie, a craft weaver in Dunfermline, Scotland, had been an original member of a Tradesman’s Library which had been established from a pooling of his own books and those of two fellow weavers. This was the first circulating library in that town.3
The family immigrated to the United States in 1848 hoping to escape the industrialization of the weaving trade, and Andrew Carnegie’s formal education ended. In 1850, as a teenage telegraphic messenger boy in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Carnegie, with other apprentices, borrowed books from the private library of Colonel James Anderson. Later, when this collection was expanded to become the “Mechanics and Apprentices Library” with a $2.00 annual subscription fee for all but apprentices, Carnegie wrote a successful letter to the Pittsburgh Dispatch under the pseudonym of ‘A Working Boy,’ arguing that any fee should be eliminated.4 He never forgot this early association with Allegheny’s first free public library, nor the importance of Anderson’s benefaction to his education and life.
When Andrew Carnegie retired in 1901 and sold the Carnegie Steel Company to J.P. Morgan, he received $500,000,000. Placed in various trusts this money was the basis for the philanthropy which then became his full-time occupation, although he had already begun his “giving” with a public swimming bath (1877) and then a public library (1883) in his hometown of Dunfermline.5 By 1895, five years after his essay on “Wealth” appeared, he had also endowed library buildings, and in some instances the collections as well, in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Ayr, Wick, Stirling, Jedburg, Peterhead and Inverness, Scotland and in Allegheny, Braddock and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Fairfield, Iowa.6
In total, Andrew Carnegie, or the Carnegie Corporation which succeeded his personal giving in 1911, donated a total of $56,162,622.97 to free public library buildings world-wide, with $2,556,660 granted for library construction in Canada.7 Table 1 illustrates the location of those buildings throughout the English speaking world.
Location |
Number of buildings |
Amount $ |
United States |
1,681 |
41,233,853.47 |
Canada |
125 |
2,556,660.00 |
Australia |
4 |
68,240.00 |
New Zealand |
18 |
207,397.00 |
South Africa |
12 |
123,855.00 |
West Indies |
6 |
97,355.00 |
Various |
3 |
25,805.00 |
Great Britain and Ireland |
660 |
11,849,457.50 |
Total |
2,509 |
56,162,622.97 |
It should be realized that although public libraries remained the primary focus of Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropy they were not his sole interest. Scientific research, advancement of teaching, the furthering of international peace, the reward of heroic deeds and the provision of church organs were among the better known of his public benefactions. Academic library buildings, primarily in the United States but including Victoria College, University of Toronto, were also funded, and library collections, special libraries (such as at dental schools), library education, library associations and library demonstration projects were all well supported. Such library interests in Canada had received $611,400 prior to 1935 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.9
Of the 125 Carnegie libraries completed in Canada the greatest number, 111, were in Ontario, as Table 2 indicates. Two factors at least partially explain this preponderance: one was the history of library development in this province. The other was the relatively early urban settlement of Ontario and the popular recognition of the need for free or public libraries. The pattern of obtaining a Carnegie library building was similar, however, whether in the American states or in the provinces of Canada, and the influence of Andrew Carnegie upon library services in Ontario, and to a lesser degree on the rest of Canada, has a visible reminder in the many Carnegie libraries which continue to serve their original purpose.
Location |
Number of buildings |
Amount $ |
Alberta |
3 |
217,500 |
British Columbia |
3 |
121,915 |
Manitoba |
4 |
201,000 |
New Brunswick |
1 |
50,000 |
Ontario |
111 |
1,866,745 |
Saskatchewan |
2 |
14,500 |
Yukon |
1 |
25,000 |
Total |
125 |
2,556,660 |