Editing Carnegie library (section)

==Carnegie formula==
[[File:Foundation stone of Waterford Free Library.jpg|thumb|Carnegie laying the foundation stone of the [[Waterford City Library]] (1903)]]
Nearly all of Carnegie's libraries were built according to "the Carnegie formula", which required financial commitments for maintenance and operation from the town that received the donation. Carnegie required public support rather than making endowments because, as he wrote:
{{quote|an endowed institution is liable to become the prey of a clique. The public ceases to take interest in it, or, rather, never acquires interest in it. The rule has been violated which requires the recipients to help themselves. Everything has been done for the community instead of its being only helped to help itself.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Carnegie |first=Andrew |title=The Best Fields for Philanthropy |journal=North American Review |date=December 1889 |volume=149 |pages=688–691}}</ref>}}

Carnegie required the elected officials—the local government—to:
* demonstrate the need for a public library;
* provide the building site;
* pay staff and maintain the library;
* draw from public funds to run the library—not use only private donations;
* annually provide ten percent of the cost of the library's construction to support its operation; and,
* provide free service to all.

Carnegie assigned the decisions to his assistant [[James Bertram (Carnegie secretary)|James Bertram]]. He created a "Schedule of Questions". The schedule included: Name, status and population of town, Does it have a library?  Where is it located and is it public or private?  How many books?  Is a town-owned site available? Estimation of the community's population at this stage was done by local officials, and Bertram later commented that if the population counts he received were accurate, "the nation's population had mysteriously doubled".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eOIhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JGMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5747%2C1437834 |title=Thanks, but no thanks |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=July 17, 1983 |access-date=May 26, 2015 |author=Gigler, Rich |pages=12}}</ref>

The effects of Carnegie's library philanthropy coincided with a peak in new town development and library expansion in the US.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kevane|first1=Michael|last2=Sundstrom|first2=William A.|date=April 30, 2014|title=The Development of Public Libraries in the United States, 1870–1930: A Quantitative Assessment|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/543837|journal=Information & Culture: A Journal of History|volume=49|issue=2|pages=117–144|doi=10.1353/lac.2014.0009|issn=2166-3033|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202015258/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/543837|archive-date=February 2, 2017|url-access=subscription}}</ref> By 1890, many states had begun to take an active role in organizing public libraries, and the new buildings filled a tremendous need. It was also a time of rapid development of institutions of higher learning. Interest in libraries was also heightened at a crucial time in their early development by Carnegie's high profile and his genuine belief in their importance.<ref>Bobinski, p. 191.</ref>

In Canada in 1901, Carnegie offered more than $2.5&nbsp;million to build 125 libraries. Most cities at first turned him down, then eventually took the money.<ref>Susan Goldenberg, "Dubious Donations," ''Beaver'' (2008) 88#2</ref>

In 1902, Carnegie offered funds to build a library in Dunedin in [[New Zealand]].  Between 1908 and 1916, 18 Carnegie libraries were opened across New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/carnegie-free-libraries |title=Carnegie free libraries |website=New Zealand History |access-date=March 12, 2022}}</ref>