The name Carnegie holds a great deal of significance for me. Spending a large majority of my life on the East Coast, that name stirs visions of the crushed velvet seats of Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. Growing up I saw musicians performing classical music there. Last year my father, step-mother, my two children and I went there see the world-class jazz clarinet player Andy Firth at Carnegie Hall.
When I hear the name Carnegie I also think of delectable sandwiches piled high with pastrami on toasted fresh bread along with a big dill pickle on the side, a classic staple from the Carnegie Deli.
When I first came to Lakeport I immediately noticed the Carnegie Library ? a beautiful historical structure at Library Park on the shores of Clear Lake.
Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American businessman, was a philanthropist. Not from Lake County, not from California, not even from the U.S. initially. Carnegie is responsible for the classic building with the palms in front of it. I was prompted to question why there is a library bearing his name in Lakeport.
The answer is as follows, Andrew Carnegie was the catalyst to literacy by having more than 2,500 libraries erected across the United States and thousands more all over the world.
Just as the Lakeport branch exemplifies, Carnegie libraries feature simple, formal architecture with prominent doorways. The buildings typically boast a staircase to symbolize elevation by learning. The first Carnegie public library was opened 1883 in his hometown, Dunfermline, Scotland. The first Carnegie Library in the United States was built in 1889 in Braddock, Pennsylvania.
Outside every Carnegie library there is a light, lamppost or lantern to symbolize enlightenment.
Jan Bruns, who has an office in the building, was kind enough to give me a grand tour. The downstairs was previously a children”s wing. I could feel the presence of children in the white room and visualize youth sitting on braided rugs with legs crossed and hard cover books in their hands.
“The Gospel of Wealth,” an essay written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 described the responsibility of philanthropy and why the rich should share to create a better society. The concept he sought to share in the essay was that wealthy entrepreneurs are responsible for distributing money in a sensible way that benefits society.
His father, grandfather and uncle were all Scottish radicals who fought to rid society of inherited privilege and to bring rights to common workers.
“I began to learn what poverty meant,” Carnegie wrote. “It was burnt into my heart then that my father had to beg for work. And then and there came the resolve that I would cure that when I got to be a man.”
An prime example of this philosophy was development of the many libraries bearing the Carnegie name. Carnegie thought the wealthy were responsible for the recirculation of their money back into society. Carnegie said by bettering society and the people on earth, we would secure a place at the gates of Paradise ? a place in heaven.
Though the Lakeport Carnegie Library no longer houses books, but city offices, it is fitting that new dedicated lamposts surround the historic building.
Originally the Carnegie buildings were given as a libraries and it would be a breach of faith to use the buildings for anything else. That policy was later relaxed. It became generally suggested that when a new library replaced a Carnegie Library, a plaque be affixed to the new building identifying Carnegie history.
Carnegie was one of the first to call for a “league of nations” and he built “a palace of peace” that evolved into the World Court. Louise Carnegie is to have said at the onset of World War I in 1914 his “heart was broken and that with these hostilities of her husband”s, his hopes for a civilized world of peace were destroyed.” Andrew Carnegie lived for five years longer. The last entry in his autobiography was the day World War I began. Andrew Carnegie left a legacy of literacy.
To learn more about Andrew Carnegie and the libraries visit www.carnegie-libraries.org, www.pbs.org, www.clpgh.org, www.americaslibrary.gov.
Mandy Feder is assistant managing editor/night desk for the Record-Bee. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or 263-5636 ext. 32. Opinions are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lake County Record-Bee or its management.
