Wilmette Public Library is pleased to share that it has received a $10,000 gift from the Carnegie Corporation of New York as one of the 1,260 remaining original Carnegie libraries. The gift is in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and celebrates Carnegie’s lasting influence on libraries and literacy.
Scottish immigrant and industrialist Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of more than 1,600 free public libraries in America between 1886 and 1917. In 1900, the village of Wilmette reached out to the Carnegie Corporation to inquire about a gift to support the creation of a permanent home for the newly formed Wilmette Public Library. The Carnegie Corporation agreed to donate $10,000 for the project, if the village could provide a suitable site free of all encumbrances.
By 1903, the board had identified a plot of land for the construction of the Carnegie library at the corner of Wilmette and West Avenues (now Park Avenue), where the current Wilmette Public Library is still located. The total gift from the Carnegie Corporation was $11,000, and on January 2, 1905, the new Carnegie library in Wilmette opened to the public.
Over the following decades, the building was adapted to accommodate the growing needs of the community, but by the 1940s it was clear that the building was beyond its capacity. In 1948, a referendum was passed to build a new library building that would meet the needs of the community for years to come. The new building was opened to the public in 1951, and the original Carnegie library was razed the same week.
While the original building no longer stands, Wilmette Public Library holds fast to the spirit of learning that was so vital to Andrew Carnegie’s original mission. Serving 260,000 patrons each year, circulating more than 600,000 books, and offering a slate of nearly 1000 programs, the library remains a vibrant, vital hub for the community, as it has since the opening of our original Carnegie library more than 100 years ago.
The library staff and board are deeply thankful to the Carnegie Corporation for this gift, celebrating the long impact of Andrew Carnegie’s commitment to public libraries in America. “How appropriate that we can take this moment to pause and reflect on the journey of our democracy over the past 250 years,” said Wilmette Public Library director Anthony Auston, “that our own local public library still upholds the principles that everyone is welcome and free to enjoy open, equitable access to an extraordinary array of valuable informational, educational, research and entertainment resources, services, programs, and opportunities.”
Learn more about the library's history at our local history archive.