The young Andrew Carnegie
Photo Courtesy of Carnegie Corporation of New York

---

---

“The man who has the ability to take full possession of his own
mind may take possession of anything else to

Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 to William Carnegie, a craft weaver, and Margaret Carnegie. William Carnegie had a strong influence on Andrew, as his involvement in the British Chartist movement, as well as the Tradesmen’s Subscription Library he helped create, exposed Andrew to radical politics and a democratic world view. Despite the emphasis placed on the importance of education, Andrew Carnegie was required to leave his formal education behind in order to help support his family. After his father’s business suffered from the industrialization of the weaving industry in Great Britain, the Carnegie’s moved from their native Dunfermline, an industrial town in the south of Scotland, to the United States in 1848. Eventually settling in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a young Carnegie worked at various industrial jobs before becoming an employee of the Pennsylvania railroad. As the assistant to the superintendent, Carnegie learned about the inner-workings of the industry, and garnered an education about investment. Applying his shrewd business skills to the markets, Carnegie invested in railroads, oil, and iron, making a small fortune by the age of thirty. However, it was not until Carnegieseized hold of the growing steel industry that he made his real fortune for which he is most well known today. Founding the Carnegie Steel Company in 1889, Carnegie reaped the benefits of owning what soon became the largest steel manufacturer in the United States.

Courtesy of Carnegie Corporation of New York

---

---

“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.”
– Andrew Carnegie

Dedicated to free education for all and the notion of a meritocratic society, Andrew Carnegie poured a great deal of his energies and resources into institutions which would support and further these beliefs. By the age of 35, Carnegie decided to leave his business enterprises behind and concentrate on philanthropy and writing. After selling the Carnegie Steel Company in 1901 to J.P Morgan for $480,000,000, Carnegie set up numerous institutions to aid in the funding of various educational projects around the world. The most notable of these are the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , which still operate today. Carnegie believed that rather than personal profit, the most important cause to which money could be given was the access of free education for all people. Carnegie saw the public library as the ultimate vehicle through which this belief could be realized. As he stated in his introduction to the opening of one of his free public libraries:

It is the mind that makes the body rich. There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else. Money can only be the useful drudge of things immeasurably higher than itself... My aspirations take a higher flight. Mine be it to have contributed to the enlightenment and the joys of the mind, to the things of the spirit, to… sweetness and light. I hold this the noblest p ossible use of wealth.

Carnegie believed the best way to provide free education and to foster growing communities was through the establishment ofpublic libraries. In so doing, Carnegie believed he could provide the public with the tools necessary to succeed, regardless of their socio-economic background. In his lifetime, Andrew Carnegie donated $56 million for the building of 2,509 libraries throughout the world. Of the 125 Carnegie libraries in Canada, 111 were built in Ontario.

In order to have his vision of free and democratic education realized, Carnegie, along with his long time friend and business partner James Bertram, established various criteria for their grants. This came to be known as the “Carnegie Formula” which required any town applying to be a recipient of a Carnegie grant to:

• Demonstrate the need for a public library
• Provide the building site
• Annually provide ten percent of the cost of the library’s construction to support its operation
• Use the building as a library only – the building plans must not include other city or recreational facilities

A typical Carnegie grant would be about $10,000 – a sum which would amount to approximately $650,000 today. In total, Andrew Carnegie spent $2,556,600 on the construction of libraries in Canada. The use of these funds contributed significantly to the development of small communities around the world, providing much needed services, as well as many spectacular buildings for which many towns and cities are known.  

---

---

Carnegie’s vision of a life filled with a free and lasting education not only led to the construction of hundreds of libraries around the world, but various innovations in the way in which they functioned. The main difference in the structure of Carnegie public libraries was a move from closed to open stacks. Carnegie believed that this slight adjustment in planning would further emphasize the democratic approach he took to education. While closed stacks required a librarian’s assistance, open stacks made readily available to the public encouraged and enabled people to browse and choose books for themselves. Recognized for both their functionality and their architectural beauty, Carnegie libraries have come to represent both the principles of education and those of a man eternally dedicated to it.

---

Carnegie’s Legacy

---

"Only in popular education can man erect the structure of an enduring civilization."
– Andrew Carnegie

Although many of the Carnegie libraries have been renovated for alternate use or demolished, 63 of the original 111 Ontario libraries still function as such. Over the course of his life, Andrew Carnegie contributed more than $350,000,000 to various educational causes around the world, and helped change both people’s attitudes toward, and accessibility of, education, as well as the North American landscape. Andrew Carnegie died on August 11, 1919 at the age of 84 from bronchial pneumonia. The institutions and trusts he began in his lifetime continue to promote and enhance education and culture around the world, while the ideas and causes he fostered and in which he was so heavily involved continue to thrive.

---

Sources Used

1. Beckman, Margaret; Langmead, Stephen; Black, John. The Best Gift. Toronto : Dundurn Press, 1984

2. Bruce, Lorne D. “The Electronic History File: Canadian Library Biographies and Histories.” Libraries Today. September 2004 </www.uoguelph.ca/~lbruce>

3. Bruce, Lorne D. Free Books for All: The Public Library Movement in Ontario, 1850-1930. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1994

4. Carnegie, Andrew. "Mr. Carnegie's Address," in Presentation of the Carnegie Library to the People of Pittsburgh, with a Description of the Dedicatory Exercises, November 5th, 1895 (Pittsburgh: The City of Pittsburgh, [1895]), 13-14. .” Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh May 14, 2003 <www.clpgh.org/exhibit/carnegie.html>

5. Carnegie, Andrew. “The Gospel of Wealth.” Modern History Sourcebook: Andrew Carnegie: The Gospel of Wealth: 1889. August 1997 <www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1889carnegie.html>

6. Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Carnegie Corporation of New York. <www.carnegie.org/sub/about/biography.html>

7. “Carnegie Library.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. March 25, 2005 <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library>

8. Chad, Barry L. “Bridging the Urban Landscape: Andrew Carnegie, A Tribute.” Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh May 14, 2003 <www.clpgh.org/exhibit/carnegie.html>

9. Grønnestad, Wendy. “Canadian Carnegie Libraries Outside of Ontario”. University of Alberta School of Library and Information Studies, July 2001

10. “Philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie” Columbia University Libraries: Rare Book and Manuscript Library. March 23, 2005 <www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/rbml/collections/carnegie/andrew.html>

11. “Toronto’s Carnegie Libraries.” Toronto Public Library: About the Library. June 12, 2003. <www.tpl.toronto.on.ca/abo_his_index.jsp>

12. Walsh. Glen A. “History of Andrew Carnegie and Carnegie Libraries.” Tuesday May 31, 2005 <www.andrewcarnegie.cc/