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PITTSBURG
EARLY LIBRARY HISTORYDr. J. A. Pomeroy, in charge of the Catholic parish in Pittsburg, is credited as the person who helped widen the local book club idea. In 1894, he organized a larger library club to circulate books among members and friends. In 1896, the general library idea was boosted by the Academic Literary Club, and in 1898, a small tax levy was authorized. In January, 1902, the first public library was opened with 1,601 books in the city hall.
THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY
On July 22, 1907, the library board, with the support of the Pittsburg
Commercial Club, initiated steps to ask Andrew Carnegie for a donation.
Carnegie responded with a $40,000.00 offer on June 25, 1909, an
amounted pared down through a lengthy negotiation from the $50,000.00
the library board had asked for. July 14, 1909, the city council voted
to provide the annual financial support Carnegie required. While plans
were underway, the miners in the community--for this was coal mining
country--were "violently opposed" to the idea of accepting money from
Carnegie on account of the Homestead strike of 1892, where several
workers were killed during a wage dispute; the strike had left bitter
memories among miners. Several letters which were "very detrimental
were written by citizens, but the board labored on.
The library board approved the purchase of a building site at the corner of Walnut and Fourth Streets on Sept. 13, 1909, and paid $7,000.00 for the lots. The Chicago architectural firm of Normand S. Patton and Grant C. Miller was selected to design the building as they had prepared plans for 68 Carnegie libraries in all parts of the country.
The cornerstone was laid Sept. 7, 1910, and the whole while the building was being constructed there was controversy in Pittsburg over the project. One lady said, "There should be a death's head in every window," an opinion she had formulated after reading Ida Tarbell's biography of Carnegie. Perhaps to mollify public sentiment, it was decided that the library would not be built in a conventional "Carnegie style" and not be called a Carnegie library. The words over the entrance say "Public Library." In a recent article, Betty Vequist quotes the editor of the Pittsburg Kansan, who did not give into the crowd when the building was opened. He was opposed to the building from the start, and even after it was built could not help but state in print that he was "not in favor today, nor any other day, of holding out clamorous hands for any of this tear-rusted[,] blood-stained gold for library buildings."
The total cost of the building was $50,385.00, the balance being paid from the library fund savings. The building was completed in 1911 and dedicated Jan. 12, 1912.
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