Salina Library Receives $10,000 Carnegie Grant for Youth Services Remodel

The Salina Public Library is putting a $10,000 gift from the Carnegie Corporation of New York toward its Youth Services remodel currently underway.

The library received the funds in January as part of Carnegie Libraries 250, a special initiative honoring the roughly 1,280 Carnegie Libraries still serving communities across the United States. The program celebrates the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries nationwide between 1886 and 1917. Today, approximately 750 continue to use their original buildings, while others have relocated to newer facilities.

Salina's Carnegie Library opened in June 1903 at the corner of Eighth and Iron Street, serving the community for 65 years before the library moved to a larger facility in 1968. The building was one of 59 Carnegie libraries constructed in Kansas.

"Salina Public Library was profoundly shaped by Carnegie's generosity, and that legacy continues even after our move to the current building at 301 W. Elm Street," said Library Director Melanie Hedgespeth. "The Carnegie Library that stood at the corner of Eighth and Iron Street was our home for over six decades, and its influence still defines who we are today."

Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation and former head of the University of Oxford, said the foundation remains committed to Carnegie's vision of libraries as democratic institutions.

"Our founder, Andrew Carnegie, who championed the free public library movement of the late 19th century, described libraries as 'cradles of democracy' that 'strengthen the democratic idea, the equality of the citizen, and the royalty of man,'" Richardson said. "We still believe this and are delighted to celebrate our connection to the libraries he founded."