Illinois was granted 105 Carnegie libraries, mostly in small communities. Chicago had none. Indiana received the most in the U.S. with 155 and California came in second with 121. Scotland received 195 library buildings.
In time, I would like to visit all the Carnegie libraries in Illinois. Here are some of those I have see thus far: Spring Valley, LaSalle, Geneva, Streator, Jacksonville, Sycamore, and Onarga. I think there are a couple more, but I couldn't find my list tonight.
Several years ago, my Grandson was playing in a hockey tournament in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I found they have a beautiful Carnegie library. This one had a fireplace and a water fountain in the lobby. The fountain was later removed.
If you have a Carnegie library in your community, please let me know.
In total 2,500 library buildings were built around the world and a total of $60,000,000 was spent on these library buildings.
I will be in Pekin, Illinois, on May 11, speaking to the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society. Pekin has a beautiful, new library. The library given by Carnegie was demolished to make way for the new building. The same thing happened in Brookfield, Illinois, and many others.
I loved the one in Colorado Springs. It was almost like touring a beautiful home instead of a library.
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