Gifts from the Man of Steel

Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette:

GIFTS FROM THE MAN OF STEEL

Emporia received two of them, two Carnegie Libraries, one public, one private.

Andrew Carnegie offered a deal to communities. He told cities that if they had an appropriate site, could commit tax-wise to buying the books and maintaining the facility, that he would provide money to build a library.

He said yes 1,689 times to library grant requests from U.S. communities. Fifty-nine grants were issued for public libraries in Kansas.

Carnegie was born in Scotland in 1835. His family came to the U.S. when he was 13; he’d had only one or two years of schooling at that point.

He began work as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, moved up to being a telegraph messenger, and eventually became one of the richest men in the world with his dealings in railroads, bridge construction, and iron and steel production.

Carnegie was committed to giving away his riches during his lifetime. In 1889, he wrote “The Gospel of Wealth” in which he suggested that those who have accumulated large fortunes should use their abundance to benefit the greater good.

In 1901, Anderson Library was opened on the College of Emporia campus. The building currently houses the Emporia State University Archives.

A plaque at the front door of Anderson Library sums up, at least in my mind, the reason for Carnegie’s devotion to libraries: “The John B. Anderson Memorial Library erected A. D. 1901 by Andrew Carnegie in grateful remembrance of Mr. Anderson who opened his own private library for the working boys of Allegheny City (Pa.) of whom Mr. Carnegie was one.”

Andrew Carnegie, library superhero, understood the power of books.

In 1904, the Emporia Public Library was constructed at 118 E. Sixth Ave. Thirty years ago in 1979, when the new library was built next door, the Lyon County Historical Museum moved into the Carnegie building.

I had seen the museum display area, but wanted to get a feel for Emporia’s Carnegie Library as it once was, so I asked museum director Greg Jordan for a tour of the entire building.

The interior has likely changed some in the past 100 years, but it still has that old library feel with thick, sturdy woodwork on the main floor. Fancy beveled glass serves as a room divider. An ornate drinking fountain is set into the wall.

Jordan showed me the library stacks on the west end of the building. The museum uses those bookshelves to hold artifacts.

There are two levels of book stacks and those levels are separated by panes of thick glass. In the stacks you can see the support beams; embossed on those black steel beams is the name “Carnegie.”

The building makes use of the trickle-down method of lighting.

“To avoid using two sets of electric lights, they just put in one set and then used a glass floor between the levels,” Jordan explained.

There’s a book elevator for ease in shelving books. And the library has back passageways and stairways. We climbed the steps into the attic, a cavernous room with a pitched ceiling which reminded me of my grandma’s hayloft.

Jordan showed me the basement and I peeked into the walk-in vault where they probably stored rare books and documents.

The building had only a partial basement until the ‘50s when the children’s room was added onto (under) the east end of library.

Many of the Kansas Carnegie libraries still stand. Some, like the ones in Lyndon, Ft. Scott and Kingman, operate as lending libraries, but others, like ours, have taken on second careers.

Carnegie buildings in Ottawa and Dodge City have become community art centers. The one in Council Grove now houses city offices.

Andrew Carnegie gave away his wealth and in so doing enriched the lives of many Americans with his library grants.

His good fortune became ours. Emporia’s two Carnegie libraries have served this community long and well.

Copyright 2009 ~ Cheryl Unruh