Scottsbluff Carnegie Library
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
The Scottsbluff Carnegie Library was built in 1922.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Scottsbluff is one of the youngest cities in Nebraska. It owes its existence to a subsidiary of the Burlington Railroad, which established the city in 1900. It didn't grow quickly in the first few years but this situation changed when the North Platte Valley was irrigated and farmers started to grow sugar beets. As a result, Scottsbluff started to prosper and became an important economic center for western Nebraska.
It was in this context that the library was built. A local women's group founded the first library in 1916, which was very successful. A new library board was established and it requested funds from the Carnegie Corporation, named after its founder and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie—the steel magnate who was one of the richest people in the world at the time. He gave the library board $12,500 in June 1917 but after the U.S entered WWI, the city decided to wait to begin construction until the war was over. However, the library board soon realized it needed to expand the library to accommodate the growing city and asked for additional funds, which they received. The addition was built in 1936. It is not readily apparent how long the library operated but it did eventually move into its current building.
Sources
"Mission." West Nebraska Arts Center. Accessed October 13, 2019. http://www.thewnac.com/welcome.
Chatfield, Penelope. "Scottsbluff Carnegie Library." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. September 3, 1981. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottsbluff_Carnegie_Library.
Wikimedia Commons