List of Carnegie libraries in Pennsylvania

The following list of Carnegie libraries in Pennsylvania provides detailed information on United States Carnegie libraries in Pennsylvania, where 59 public libraries were built from 27 grants (totaling $5,169,587) awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1886 to 1917. Notably, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania contains the first Carnegie libraries ever donated by the philanthropist, owing to his personal connection to the Pittsburgh area. Architectural Critic Patricia Lowry calls them "Pittsburgh's most significant cultural export". ^[1]

Five out of the first seven, six of the first ten, and seven of the first twelve libraries that Carnegie commissioned in America are in Allegheny County. Also, eleven of the first fourteen Carnegie funded libraries to open in America were in Allegheny County. In all, 19 libraries were commissioned in the county and several of them are more than just libraries but are cultural centers as well.

Also among the libraries built were 25 in Philadelphia which are listed separately. In addition to public libraries, academic libraries were built for 9 institutions, more than any other state. These grants totaled $441,000. In addition Carnegie founded two entire colleges in Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute of Technology and Margaret Morrison College for Women. Both are today part of Carnegie Mellon University.

Key

  Building still operating as a library
  Building standing, but now serving another purpose
  Building no longer standing
  Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Public libraries

	Library	Locality	Image	Date granted [2]	Grant amount [2] [3]	Location	Notes
1	Allegheny	Allegheny County—North Side of Pittsburgh, formerly known as Allegheny City		1886	$481,012	6 Allegheny Square East	The first Carnegie Library in the US to be commissioned and the second to open. Dedicated by Carnegie and U.S. President Benjamin Harrison on February 20, 1890. Also houses the first Carnegie Hall in the US, which is now used by the New Hazlett Theater. And starting in 2017, the library space is being renovated and being turned into the Museum Lab, which is a part of the Children's Museum across the street, and will open in April 2019.
2	Beaver Falls	Beaver Falls, Beaver County		Aug 15, 1899	$50,000	1301 7th Ave.	The 20th Carnegie Library in the U.S. to be commissioned.
3	Braddock	Allegheny County -- Braddock		1887	$357,782	419 Library St. 40°24′07″N79°51′56″W / 40.401869°N 79.865425°W / 40.401869; -79.865425 (Public Library, Braddock, PA)	The first Carnegie Library in the US to open and the second to be commissioned. Dedicated by Carnegie and U.S. President Benjamin Harrison on March 30, 1889. Originally, it was not a publicly supported library but was fully funded by the Carnegie Steel Co. and governed by its officials. The first of four such libraries in the US to be fully endowed. An 1893 expansion doubled the size of the building and includes the third Carnegie Music Hall in the US, a Gymnasium, and a swimming pool (currently out of use).
4	Bradford	Bradford, McKean County		Jan 19, 1900	$40,000	27 Congress St.	Library moved to a new building in 1991. Now a restaurant, Beefeaters at the Historic Carnegie Library. [4] [5]
5	Butler	Butler, Butler County		May 3, 1917	$37,000	218 N. McKean St.	The last library commissioned by Carnegie in Pennsylvania and among the last in the entire country. Opened 1921; renovated 1966 and 2003
6	Carnegie	Allegheny County -- Carnegie		Apr 26, 1898	$310,000	300 Beechwood Ave.	The seventh Carnegie Library in the USA commissioned and the third to be fully endowed. Opened May 1, 1901. Official name: Andrew Carnegie Free Library. Of the 2,509 libraries built by Andrew Carnegie, it was the only public library granted permission to use both his first and last names. In addition to the library, it includes a 788-seat Music Hall, 140-seat Lecture Hall, Civil War Museum, and a small in-town park. [6]
7	Connellsville	Connellsville, Fayette County		Apr 22, 1899	$75,000	299 S. Pittsburgh St.	The 13th library in the US to receive a grant.
8	Corry	Corry, Erie County		Nov 9, 1916	$15,000	203 N. Center St.	Now a restaurant
9	Duquesne	Allegheny County -- Duquesne		Jan 23, 1901	$310,000		The fourth and final library to be fully endowed. Carnegie had a Steel Mill here. Demolished in June 1968
10	Easton	Easton, Northampton County		Jul 4, 1901	$57,500	515 Church St.
11	Edgewood	Allegheny County -- Edgewood		May 8, 1914	$12,500	1 Pennwood Ave.	C.C. Mellor Memorial Library, opened September 1, 1916. Named for Charles C. Mellor, one of the original trustees, appointed by Andrew Carnegie, of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
12	Hamburg	Hamburg, Berks County		Feb 20, 1903	$10,000	35 N. 3rd St.
13	Homestead	Allegheny County -- Munhall		Nov 27, 1896	$322,067	510 E. 10th Ave.	The sixth Carnegie Library in the US to be commissioned and the second to be fully endowed. Opened November 5, 1898. It was the 7th to open—the Lawrenceville branch of Pittsburgh, commissioned at the same time as its main branch, opened 6 months earlier. Also contains a Carnegie Music Hall, a lecture hall, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and a bowling alley.
14	Johnstown	Johnstown, Cambria County		Mar 9, 1890	$55,332	304 Washington St.	The fourth Carnegie Library commissioned in the US and the first outside of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Now the Johnstown Flood Museum.
15	Mansfield	Mansfield, Tioga County		Mar 29, 1911	$5,000	71 N. Main St.
16	McKeesport	Allegheny County -- McKeesport		Apr 2, 1899	$50,000	1507 Library Ave.	The 12th library in the US to receive a grant from Carnegie. Opened July 15, 1902.
17	Midland	Midland, Beaver County		May 8, 1914	$20,000	61 9th St.
18	North Bessemer	Allegheny County -- Penn Hills		May 1, 1901	$20,600		Demolished in the 1950s
19	Oakmont	Allegheny County -- Oakmont		Jan 24, 1899	$25,000	700 Allegheny River Blvd.	The tenth library in the US to receive a grant. Opened 1901.
20	Oil City	Oil City, Venango County		Apr 12, 1900	$44,000	2 Central Ave.
21	Phoenixville	Phoenixville, Chester County		Mar 9, 1901	$20,000	183 2nd Ave.
22	Pittsburgh Main	Allegheny County -- Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	$1,160,614 [7]	4400 Forbes Ave.	The third Carnegie Library commissioned in the US and the first to have multiple branches. Main library dedicated November 5, 1895, at which time Carnegie announced an additional gift to enlarge the building. The mammoth structure in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh contains the Main Library, Carnegie Music Hall (the fourth to open in the USA), Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Carnegie Museum of Art.
23	Pittsburgh East Liberty	Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	—		Opened 1905, demolished in the 1960s. In 1967 a new Carnegie library opened at a different location in East Liberty. That structure was renovated in 2010 by Edge Studio.
24	Pittsburgh Hazelwood	Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	—	4748 Monongahela St.	Opened August 15, 1900. The eleventh Carnegie funded library to open in America. Relocated to Second Avenue in 2004.
25	Pittsburgh Homewood	Pittsburgh		?	$160,500 [8]	7101 Hamilton Ave.	Opened 1910, it was not part of Carnegie's original grant to Pittsburgh but part of a later gift. It's the last library Carnegie built in the city of Pittsburgh and is much bigger than a typical branch building. It's the library featured in episodes of the PBS show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Includes 300-seat auditorium. Renovated 2004.
26	Pittsburgh Lawrenceville	Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	—	279 Fisk St.	Opened May 10, 1898. The 6th Carnegie Library to open in the US, it was the first 'self-service' library using an open-stacks policy. It was planned so one librarian could oversee the entire operation with a circulation desk flanked by turnstiles that admitted readers to the open stacks one at a time. Also the first library to have a room for children. The reading rooms were separated by walls that became glass partitions above waist level—under the watchful eye of the librarian. [1] [9]
27	Pittsburgh Mount Washington	Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	—	315 Grandview Ave.	Opened May 31, 1900; the tenth Carnegie funded library to open in America
28	Pittsburgh South Side	Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	—	2205 E. Carson St.	Opened January 30, 1908, the last of those which were financed from Mr. Carnegie's original gift to the city.
29	Pittsburgh West End	Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	—	47 Wabash St.	Opened January 31, 1899. The eighth Carnegie funded library to open in America. It was Carnegie's second library (after Lawrenceville branch) to have open shelves for patrons and second neighborhood branch—which he scaled down considerably from the huge structures built as central libraries and cultural centers such as Braddock, Allegheny, Homestead, and Pittsburgh Main Branch.
30	Pittsburgh Wylie Avenue	Pittsburgh		Feb 6, 1890	—	1911 Wylie Ave.	Opened June 1, 1899. The ninth Carnegie funded library to open in America. Branch relocated in 1982. Original building now a mosque
31	Pottsville	Pottsville, Schuylkill County		Jan 28, 1916	$45,000	215 W. Market St.
32	Reading	Reading, Berks County		Apr 16, 1910	$111,180	100 S. 5th St.	Dedicated May 15, 1913
33	Ridley Park	Ridley Park, Delaware County		Jun 24, 1911	$10,000	107 E. Ward St.	Dedicated July 4, 1912
34	Swissvale	Allegheny County -- Swissvale		Nov 17, 1914	$25,000	1800 Monongahela Ave.	Opened February 4, 1918. The last Library built by Carnegie in his adopted home of Allegheny County.

Academic libraries

	Institution	Locality	Image	Date granted [10]	Grant amount [10]	Location	Notes
1	Bucknell University	Lewisburg, Union County		Mar 10, 1904	$30,000		Now houses the history department
2	College of Physicians	Philadelphia		Mar 4, 1903	$100,000	19 S. 22nd St. 39°57′12″N75°10′36″W / 39.953333°N 75.176667°W / 39.953333; -75.176667 (College of Physicians of Philadelphia)
3	Grove City College	Grove City, Mercer County		Apr 28, 1900	$32,000		Now the alumni center
4	Institute for Colored Youth	Cheyney		Jul 12, 1905	$10,000
5	Juniata College	Huntingdon, Huntingdon County		Mar 15, 1905	$28,000		Now an art museum
6	Lebanon Valley College	Annville		Feb 5, 1904	$20,000		Now the admissions office
7	Pennsylvania State College	State College		Jun 26, 1902	$150,000		Now the College of Communications
8	Perkiomen Seminary	Pennsburg		Apr 24, 1906 Jan 2, 1913	$6,000 $15,000
9	Swarthmore College	Swarthmore		Feb 2, 1906	$50,000		Open 1907–1967, burned September 16, 1983

Notes

1. Patricia Lowry; http://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20030302carnegie2.asp
2. At various times, Bobinski and Jones disagree on these numbers. In these cases, Jones' numbers have been used due to both a more recent publication date and a more detailed gazetteer of branch libraries, which are often where the discrepancies occur.
3. Grants for multiple libraries (Pittsburgh) are listed only by their total amount, not broken down for each branch.
4. "Beefeaters at the Historic Carnegie Library" . Retrieved August 31, 2021.
5. "About - Bradford Area Public Library" . Retrieved August 31, 2021.
6. "Library Legally Established 100 Years Ago by Andrew Carnegie".
7. Includes cost of central library, which is a part of the Carnegie Institute.
8. "Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Recommended hotels in Pittsburgh".
9. Margaret Henderson Floyd; "Architecture After Richardson"; 1994
10. Miller, pp. 38–40

References

• Anderson, Florence (1963). Carnegie Corporation Library Program 1911–1961. New York: Carnegie Corporation. OCLC   1282382.
• Bobinski, George S. (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN   0-8389-0022-4.
• Jones, Theodore (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   0-471-14422-3.
• Miller, Durand R. (1943). Carnegie Grants for Library Buildings, 1890–1917. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. OCLC   2603611.

Note: The above references, while all authoritative, are not entirely mutually consistent. Some details of this list may have been drawn from one of the references without support from the others. Reader discretion is advised.