PALMERSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY ~ Ontario CANADA
Posted by: 
Jake39
N 43° 49.986 W 080° 51.011
17T E 512045 N 4853346
The library is located at the corner of Bell St & William St
Waymark Code: WM9FPT
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 08/14/2010
Views: 3
The library is still the original building with no additions having been added because of its spaciousness. It is a complete two story building without the usual 1/2 raised basement found in most designs.
The roof lines have been lowered, basement windows closed, and the building completely renovated to to-days standards.
The town fathers, being frugal, never informed the Carnegie Foundation that the right side of the library would be used for Council Chambers.
Note:It has been speculated that the Carnegie Foundation would never have granted Palmerston its funding had it known the building would be used for several non-library purpose.
Designed by architect W. Frye Colwill
Amount of grant: $10,000
Ministry of Culture for Ontario link
Ontario Carnegie preamble.
Ontario's Carnegie Libraries.
A strong belief in, and passion for, free education led the highly influential philanthropist and businessman, Andrew Carnegie, to dedicate much of his life and self-made fortune to educational causes around the world.
Investing in various business endeavours, Carnegie made a small fortune by the age of thirty and by the turn of the century he became the wealthiest man in the world. Carnegie held the strong belief that it was not only the role but the responsibility of the wealthy to donate their money to causes that would help people educate themselves in the name of a higher quality of life, as well as to help them build stronger communities.
Carnegie’s strongest philanthropic initiative was the creation of 2,509 free public libraries around the world. Of the 125 Canadian libraries Carnegie funded, 111 were built in Ontario. A typical Carnegie grant would be about $10,000 – a sum which would amount to approximately $650,000 today. In total, Andrew Carnegie spent $2,556,600 on the construction of libraries in Canada. The use of these funds contributed significantly to the development of literacy and small communities across the country.