"Carnegie Library, built in 1912 at 457 4th Avenue, designed by Benjamin C. Viney and constructed by Wiggins & Sprague.
The Carnegie Library proposition from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was pretty simple: a town wanting a library provided the real-estate and the operating expenses including books, salaries, and building maintenance, and the Carnegie Foundation supplied a fixed amount of funds (Longmont got $12,500) toward construction of the building itself. As the story goes, Carnegie spent the first part of his life amassing great wealth and the second part trying to give it away (he not not succeed and this is often mentioned as one of his greatest disappointments).
One Carnegie Library requirement was the the location had to be in the central part of the requesting town. Longmont had two target locations: the current location on 4th Avenue, right off downtown to the east, and Thompson Park, a few blocks west. The downtown area (colorfully described in the newspaper as "the space between the City Hall and Rice's undertaking rooms" was eventually chosen, which was recommended by the Longmont Ledger as a better location for farmers and business men needing "quick reference". The Ledger did change their tune on this decision having originally said "we know of no better [location] than the center of Thompson Park".
On January 27, 1908, Reverend Dr. Longren, President of Longmont's Library Association, received the green light letter from Carnegie's secretary which said:
Yours of January 20th received. When you have purchased and paid for site for library and send us plans which we can approve, Mr. Carnegie will arrange payments on the building as work progresses.
Respectfully yours,
Jas. Bertram, Private Secy.
As an aside, James Bertram served as Carnegie's secretary from 1897 to 1914, and continued as secretary of Carnegie's Foundation until he died in 1934. Bertram presided over the awarding of 2,509 Carnegie Libraries, of which no more were offered after 1917. Bertram had great control of the design of Carnegie Libraries and insisted on "usable, practical libraries, not elaborate "Greek Temples." As can be seen in his reply to Longmont, the final approval was contingent on the design.
It should be remembered that even with the Carnegie offer on the table, the authorization to move forward was by no means a slam dunk, and in fact, it was voted down by the citizens later in the summer of 1908 by a 3:1 margin. Opposition was from those who did not want their taxes increased to pay the expenses of the Library, and from those who did not prefer the Thompson Park location. Reading Bob Nyboer's book would be a good place to pick up the story from here until the library opens in early 1913 - that's my intention!" (from (
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