33

"I like advice," says the founder of public libraries to the inventor of the Dewey Decimal system

Andrew Carnegie

Typed Letter Signed, with holograph closing, to Director of the NY State Library Melvil Dewey,

describing some of the requirements for funding a new library, with holograph closing ("Thanks for your interest in the matter. I like advice"), and in a typed postscript: "Replying to your last paragraph , the Library must be under the control of the community, through the Councils, or under a Library Board agreeable to the city through its Councils, and legally constituted." 1 page, 8vo, with integral blank, personal stationery; marginal discoloration from prior matting, pin hole at upper left corner, horizontal folds.

New York, 19 February 1901.

  • Notes: "Our practice is invariably to require 10 per cent upon the amount given, and in no case less than $2,000 a year, even for a small place in the west. It ranges from that up to $5,000 a year for a population of say 25,000, but each place is considered on its merits."

    In 1886, Andrew Carnegie founded the first "Carnegie Library" in America--in Allegheny, PA, where, as a boy, Carnegie had no money to buy books, but was able to borrow them from a local library and improve his mind. Carnegie went on to establish over 2,000 libraries throughout the world, spending over $50 million during his lifetime. The legacy of his library initiative continues today: in celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, the Carnegie Corporation of New York Foundation has awarded hundreds of grants to The Free Library of Philadelphia and other Carnegie Libraries across the country.
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April 9, 2026 12:00 PM EDT
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