LOGAN COUNTY
Guthrie Carnegie Library Statistics
Guthrie started as a town in Oklahoma Territory, and its Carnegie Library grant was awarded in 1901, before statehood was granted in 1907.
The Guthrie Carnegie Library was granted $20,000.00, and then an additional $5000.00 was added in 1901. Outside funds of 10,000.00 were raised to complete the structure
The formal opening was held May 20, 1903.
The library featured a dome and fireplaces, not architectural aspects favored by the Carnegie Foundation.
J. H. Bennett was the architect, and H. J. Vandenberg held the building contract.
The Guthrie Carnegie library is a historical monument, and now connected to the Territorial Museum.
For further information visit: Oklahoma Territorial Museum and Carnegie Library
Guthrie's Carnegie Library, then and now.
Guthrie's dome was a source of displeasure to Carnegie, who advocated simple, useable spaces.
The interior of the dome and the original Librarian's desk. Part of the original collection is on display behind the desk. The reading rooms were arranged around this desk to allow easy access to the librarian for assistance, and to allow monitoring of the reading rooms.
Fireplaces were also frowned on by Carnegie as a waste of money, however in frontier Oklahoma the warmth was probably welcomed in the winter by the readers. Here are the 2 fireplaces from the Guthrie Carnegie Library, both feature glazed tiles from the turn of the last century.
The Carnegie Library in Guthrie
Constructed in 1902-03, Guthrie’s Carnegie Library was the second Carnegie Library built in Oklahoma, and it is the oldest still standing. The library came about as the result of the work of the Federated Women’s Clubs of Guthrie. This group established a library board and approached Andrew Carnegie requesting a grant to construct the building. The library board hired J. H. Bennett as the contractor. The building style is Second Renaissance Revival and total cost was approximately $ 35,000.00
Andrew Carnegie did not approve of many of the library’s features, such as the dome, fireplaces and the room for the community civic groups to meet. He believed the space and money used for such extras would have been better spent for books and shelves. Guthrie has the only Carnegie Library with a dome paid for by Carnegie funds. Other Oklahoma Carnegie Libraries had domes, but the domes were built with other funds.
The Guthrie Carnegie Library is on the National Register of Historic Places.