Community efforts and Carnegie grants: A Library Story

Between 1883 and 1929, Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant turned one of the richest men in the world, donated roughly $350 million (over $6.4 billion today) to build over 2,500 public and academic libraries across English-Speaking countries.

In the United States, Carnegie issued grants for the construction of 1,795 public and academic libraries. Carnegie issued 105 grants for public libraries in Illinois, building 106 total public libraries and five institutional libraries. Illinois was awarded the third most grants in the country, trailing just behind California and Indiana.

Of the original grants, 83 public libraries still stand all across the state. The oldest of the Carnegie libraries is the Freeport Library, built in 1902. The library was closed in 2004 but provided support to the area for 102 years. The oldest standing Carnegie library is in south-central Illinois in Centralia, Illinois, a part of Rep. Blaine Wilhour’s district. Carnegie allotted $20,000 in 1901 to build the library and it opened in 1903, and it still remains an asset to the community, expanding across many small, rural towns in the region by hosting satellite locations for towns without a local library.

“The Centralia Regional Library is a great asset to our community here in south-central Illinois, drawing in many daily,” said Rep. Wilhour. “As the Republican Spokesperson for the Appropriations-Elementary and Secondary Education and member of the Education Policy Committee, I am a fierce advocate for students to be taught the basics of reading, writing, and math, and know how instrumental library accessibility is to excel in those core subjects. I use the Centralia Regional Library monthly for my Traveling Office Hours program where constituents receive help with state programs and issues. The library has great value in our rural part of the state.”

Although most of the communities that were offered a grant for a public library accepted, not all did. In Illinois, eight communities rejected Carnegie’s offer to fund the construction of a public library.

The town of Alton, situated in the metro-east portion of southern Illinois, was one of the communities who turned down the grant. After the community had almost lost the Alton Library Association in the late 1860s, a group of “concerned ladies,” led by Jennie Hayner raised funds to buy the library, fill it with books, and came together to run the association.

After many years of work, the library was outgrowing its headquarters and needed a plan. In that same

year, Jennie Hayner died, leaving the association without a director. In honor of her vision, her husband bought land to build the Jennie D. Hayner Memorial Library to continue the success of the library district. In 1901, several years after Jennie Hayner had died and the new library was built, Andrew Carnegie came to Alton to propose building one of his libraries. The library district respectfully declined, as the vision of the late Jennie Hayner was to ensure that all Altonians had access to a totally free library, something that would not be possible using a Carnegie grant, as a tax would be imposed on the citizens to upkeep the library.

Today, The Hayner Library Association is flourishing and continues to provide free library access to all those that live in Alton, which is in Rep. Amy Elik’s district and hometown.

“Jennie Hayner was instrumental in the success of libraries across the Alton community,” said Rep. Elik. “With her leadership, Alton was the only place in the country at that time to have a truly free library and that would not have been achieved if the Carnegie grant was taken. Thank you to Jennie Hayner and the “concerned ladies” for ensuring that books were available and free for all Altonians for generations to come.”

While Carnegie impacted the existence of public libraries greatly with his donations, he did not work alone. Without the work of dedicated generations who valued learning and library access, many communities today would not the unprecedented access to literature and historical pieces. Libraries, regardless of whether they were funded by Carnegie or by the townspeople, play an integral role in education and continued learning.