History
Between the years 1886 and 1919 Andrew Carnegie gave away $56 million worldwide in library benefactions. There are two main divisions within those years, often described as "retail" and "wholesale," based upon the number of libraries constructed. For the first ten years of his philanthropy Carnegie donated around $1,000,000 which benefacted only six communities in the United States and constructed a total of 14 library buildings. Those years, 1886-1896 are described as the "retail" years. The retail philanthropy was limited to five Pennsylvania communities, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Johnstown, Braddock and Homestead, and one town in Iowa, Fairfield.
As Carnegie went from his retail to wholesale period of library funding he refined his philanthropical philosophy. Instead of providing funding for large, multi-purpose buildings in larger urban areas he began to focus on providing more and smaller locales with libraries, communities that may not have had much in the way of cultural institutions before Carnegie's benefaction.
Read more about this topic: Illinois Carnegie Libraries Multiple Property Submission
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