List of Carnegie libraries in Europe

This is an incomplete list of Carnegie libraries in Europe.

Contents

Belgium

A Carnegie library was built in the 1920s for the University of Leuven to replace a building destroyed in the First World War.

Funding came from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which also built libraries in the war-damaged cities of Rheims and Belgrade. The architect of the Leuven library was Whitney Warren. Although the architect was American, he employed a Flemish style for this commission. His building in turn suffered severe damage in the Second World War, but has been restored. (For more details of this library, see Catholic University of Leuven#Library.)

France

The Carnegie library of Reims is the single Carnegie library in France. Reims was devastated in the First World War and the losses included library accommodation in the town-hall. The provision of a new library was conceived as a contribution to the city's reconstruction. Reims was one of three "front-line" cities to be given a Carnegie library, the other two being Leuven and Belgrade.

The Art Deco building was finished in 1927, and opened the following year in the presence of Gaston Doumergue, the French President and Myron T. Herrick, the US ambassador. The building was restored at the beginning of the 21st century. The library stock includes some material which survived the First World War. [1]

Ireland

Carnegie libraries are to be found throughout the island of Ireland.[2] Libraries vary considerably in size, some of the rural ones being very small, but the smallest must be the cabinets used for the Carnegie Library Lighthouse Service. A full list and description of Carnegie libraries in Ireland can be found in Irish Carnegie Libraries: a Catalogue & Architectural History by Brendan Grimes (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1998)

Serbia

The Belgrade University Library, Serbia, is a Carnegie library.[3] Much of Belgrade was destroyed in the First World War, and in the 1920s it became one of three "front-line" cities to receive a Carnegie library, the other two being Leuven and Rheims.

United Kingdom

The first Carnegie libraries to be built were in Scotland. The English Carnegie libraries began to be built at the beginning of the 20th century. Carnegie, who in his retirement divided his time between the USA and Scotland, opened some British libraries personally.

In Britain the process of applying for a Carnegie library was broadly similar to that in the USA. It was adapted to British legislation, e.g. the Public Libraries Act, which permitted expenditure from the rates on local libraries. Carnegie assessed applications using criteria which favoured poorer towns, but applicants had to undertake to support their library, providing it with books etc. from the rates. While most towns were very grateful to receive a grant, Carnegie's project was not without controversy. For example, some people objected to the way in which he had made his money. In the case of Stratford-on-Avon there were objections to the proposed building for conservation reasons, and this resulted in a library which blends into the half-timbered neighbouring buildings.[4]

Most Carnegie libraries served the general population of towns and cities, but he also provided some academic libraries in the UK. (This pattern of town and academic libraries was in line with his policy in the USA where he provided a number of college libraries, for example at Tuskegee University.[5]) In Stoke-on-Trent the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust funded a specialist ceramics library.[6] The existence of special collections with catalogues gave scope for the development of interlibrary loans.

From 1913 applications were handled by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust,[7] based in Carnegie's home town, Dunfermline. The trust continued to fund libraries after Carnegie's death in 1919, but its priorities shifted to other areas of its charitable work.

Current status of Carnegie libraries

As at 2011 many of the UK's Carnegie libraries continue to be used for their original purpose. However, Carnegie libraries are being affected by local authority budget cuts which are reducing the number of public libraries across the country.[8]

The fate of library buildings which are closed is uncertain. It depends partly on heritage listing. The British system of designating listed buildings has tended to favour pre-20th century buildings, with the result that at the beginning of the 21st century some Carnegie libraries are unprotected and thus at the mercy of the developer once they are no longer required by the local authority. Over the years some Carnegie libraries have been demolished, e.g. Grays (details in the list below). On the other hand, new uses have been found for other Carnegie libraries , e.g. Pontefract's Carnegie library is now a museum.

England

Scotland

In Scotland the Carnegie libraries were typically built of stone.[20] In the rest of the British Isles there was much more use of brick. The drawings of the Carnegie libraries designed by architect James Robert Rhind are in the Strathclyde Archives, Glasgow. [21]

Wales

Carnegie's libraries were not exclusively for English-speakers. The Bangor library was called Llyfrgell Rydd ("Free Library" in the Welsh language).

References

  1. ^ (French) La Bibliothèque Carnegie
  2. ^ Photographic Catalogue of Irish Carnegie Libraries
  3. ^ "University Library "Svetozar Marković"". University of Belgrade. http://www.bg.ac.rs/eng/memb/en_biblioteka.php. Retrieved 2009-06-18. 
  4. ^ "Carnegie and Corelli" New York Times article from 1903. (Carnegie libraries usually avoided using wood, although Stratford-on-Avon is not the only example of wooden construction, the material is used at Hull's Carnegie Heritage Centre, for example).[1]
  5. ^ Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington refers to a grant received from Carnegie in 1900 to provide the college library.
  6. ^ The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust has deposited historic files in the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, where they are available to researchers
  7. ^ Carnegie United Kingdom Trust website
  8. ^ Boyd Tonkin (2011),A fresh wind from the Humber, The Independent
  9. ^ The Bromley Record, June 1906, page 98
  10. ^ The Fiftieth Annual Report of the Free Libraries Committee: April 1st, 1911, to March 31st, 1912. (City of Birmingham, Birmingham, 1912), pp. 9-10.
  11. ^ http://blackpoolcentrallibrary.wordpress.com/about/
  12. ^ http://www.brianiddon.org.uk/speeches/20090327_FarnworthCentenary.pdf
  13. ^ "History of Grays Library". http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/heritage/content.php?page=factfiles_details&id=50. 
  14. ^ Kendal library from "Visit Cumbria"
  15. ^ Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
  16. ^ History in Portsmouth, 'the Carnegie Library'. Accessed 24-11-08.
  17. ^ http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediawebserver.dyn?6666660Zjcf6lVs6EVs66Sr8FCOrrrrQ-
  18. ^ [2]
  19. ^ "LCC comments on Stamford Library". http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/upload/public/attachments/1075/Stamford.pdf. 
  20. ^ Carnegie Libraries of Scotland
  21. ^ http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/architects/view/559 James R. Rhind
See also: Public library