Editing Carnegie library (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Stained-glass window of Andrew Carnegie at the former Carnegie Library, Victoria Street, St Albans, June 2023.jpg|thumb|right|Stained-glass window of Andrew Carnegie at the former Carnegie Library, St Albans, Hertfordshire]]
Books and libraries were important to Carnegie, from his early childhood in Scotland and his teen years in Allegheny and Pittsburgh. There he listened to readings and discussions of books from the Tradesman's Subscription Library, which his father had helped create.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Stuart|title=The library : an illustrated history|date=2009|publisher=[[Skyhorse Pub.]]|location=New York|isbn=978-1-60239-706-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryillustrat0000murr}}</ref> Later in Pennsylvania, while working for the local telegraph company in Pittsburgh, Carnegie borrowed books from the personal library of Colonel James Anderson (1785-1861).<ref>Koch, Theodore Wesley (1907) ''A Portfolio of Carnegie Libraries,'' preface (work is unpaginated)</ref> He opened his collection to his workers every Saturday. Anderson, like Carnegie, resided in Allegheny.

In his autobiography, Carnegie credited Anderson with providing an opportunity for "working boys" (that some people said should not be "entitled to books") to acquire the knowledge to improve themselves.<ref>[http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/anderson.html "Andrew Carnegie: A Tribute: Colonel James Anderson"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040211095856/http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/anderson.html |date=February 11, 2004 }}, Exhibit, ''Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh''</ref>
Carnegie's personal experience as an immigrant, who with help from others worked his way and became wealthy, reinforced his belief in a society based on merit, where anyone who worked hard could become successful. This conviction was a major element of his philosophy of giving in general.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryillustrat0000murr|title=The Library: An Illustrated History|last=Murray|first=Stuart|date=2009|publisher=Skyhorse Pub.|isbn=978-0838909911|location=New York|oclc=277203534|url-access=registration}}</ref> His libraries were the best-known expression of this philanthropic goal.  In 1900, Carnegie granted funds to build the Anderson Memorial Library, in memory of Colonel [[John Byers Anderson]], at the [[College of Emporia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skyways.lib.ks.us/carnegie/updates/esu.html|last=Gardiner|first=Allen|title=Anderson Memorial Library|work=The Carnegie Legacy in Kansas|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805114129/http://skyways.lib.ks.us/carnegie/updates/esu.html|archivedate=5 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=An inside look at Anderson Memorial Library |url=http://www.emporiagazette.com/latest_news_and_features/article_be0babcb-fea4-5fe6-a917-a760fc36e4f6.html |publisher=Emporia Gazette |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221044839/http://www.emporiagazette.com/latest_news_and_features/article_be0babcb-fea4-5fe6-a917-a760fc36e4f6.html |archive-date=December 21, 2020 |date=July 31, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>