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HARTINGTON — A gift more than a century in the making has arrived at the Hartington Public Library. The local library has received a $10,000 contribution from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the foundation established by Andrew Carnegie.
The gift commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Carnegie immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1848 and began working in a cotton mill at age 12. He went on to become one of the richest Americans in history and, later in life, gave away much of his fortune to charities, foundations, universities and, notably, for the construction of public libraries.
Between 1886 and 1917, Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries nationwide.
As part of the Carnegie Libraries 250 special initiative, the philanthropic foundation contacted libraries with historic Carnegie ties.
Approximately 1,280 libraries nationwide still operate and acknowledge their Carnegie connection, making them eligible for the commemorative gift.
About 750 of those libraries continue to operate in their original buildings, while others have relocated over the years.
The Hartington Public Library opened in 1915 and was one of 69 Carnegie libraries built in Nebraska, at an original cost of $8,000.
An addition was added onto the original building in 1997.
Today, about 50 of the original Carnegie libraries are still being operated as libraries.
The library received the Carnegie Foundation gift earlier this year.
Library officials said the funds will be used to continue improvements to services that will benefit the community for years to come.
