Context
Carnegie, a business mogul, donated roughly $40,000,000 to library construction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Disseminated in the form of grants, Illinois received 106 such grants, the third highest total nationwide. In addition to the 106 community libraries Carnegie helped create he also provided funding for four state university libraries in Illinois. The Carnegie Library, in Illinois and nationwide, represents a significant period in the history of the American public library, which is part of the very social history that threads its way through the American past. Collectively the buildings of the Illinois Carnegie Library Multiple Property Submission come from a time period when Americans were beginning to demand the library as a necessary public institution and the library was altering the way society functioned. Taxes were instituted in towns across the country in order to support public libraries and, perhaps much less noticeable, library design began to change to meet differing needs. In all 1,679 libraries were built with the help of Carnegie funding.
Read more about this topic: Illinois Carnegie Libraries Multiple Property Submission
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