The Iola Public Library is one of many Carnegie libraries that will receive a $10,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation.
The grants are part of the New York coproation's celebrationj of America's 250th anniversary in 2026. The Iola Public Library is one of about 1,200 funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie that still serve communities nationwide. Carnegie libraries were public and academic libraries built with money donated by the Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Carnegie believed in the power of self-education and access to knowledge. As a young immigrant working in a Pennsylvania factory, he had benefited from a local library that allowed workers to borrow books. He saw libraries as tools for self-improvement and social progress. Carnegie spent roughly $55 million or over $1.5 billion in today’s dollars on library construction.
