He was passionate about libraries.
Some people are aware of this interesting fact about Andrew Carnegie, whereas many others are unknown. He had a strong love for libraries. He was denied access to the neighborhood library when he was a teen because of a new regulation that said that only students of the school could enter. He ultimately decided to write a letter to the council and the newspapers, which had the effect of allowing young people access to all of Pittsburgh's libraries.
His devotion to libraries continued throughout his years of generosity, during which he created and provided funding for almost 3000 public libraries across the country. The oldest library in Washington, D.C., housed in stunning beaux-arts structures dating back to 1903 was constructed with a $300,000 donation from Carnegie.
Andrew Carnegie began building libraries in locations where he had ties personally. The Dunfermline Carnegie Library, the first of Carnegie's public libraries, was located in his Scottish hometown and birthplace. Between 1883 and 1929, 2,509 Carnegie libraries were constructed, some of which were part of public and academic library systems. 1,689 were constructed in the US, 660 in the UK and Ireland, 125 in Canada, as well as others in the Caribbean, Mauritius, Malaysia, Fiji, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
