Remembering a Visit to the World’s Oldest Carnegie Library

Abstract

Remembering a British Studies class visit to the first Carnegie Library in Dunfermline, Scotland, one of over 2,800 Carnegie libraries worldwide at the turn of the last century. In their day, Carnegie libraries were more than just charming buildings; they fueled a growing enthusiasm among the masses for the existence of free, tax-supported public libraries intended to enrich their parent communities—especially those for which no comparable institution had existed before.