Carnegie Libraries
The rapid expansion of American cities between 1890 and 1920 created a social environment which concerned many civic leaders. Efforts to counter the perceived vices of urban living included the construction of lending libraries to cultivate the social mores of immigrants and rural migrants.
Women’s societies became particularly adept at taking up the cause of urban gentility. The library as an example of culture and civic values became even more entrenched once the philanthropic donations of Andrew Carnegie provided small towns with capital to construct libraries. These libraries—built after consultation with librarians—prioritized function over form and were typically built in a Neoclassical style, recalling the classical heritage of American democracy.
Montanans were quick to adopt the library as an alternative to the saloons and red light districts still thriving in Montana's towns. Many of the libraries follow guidelines recommended by Carnegie and his secretary James Bertram, although local materials and architectural preferences provide regional distinction. These buildings remain a critical part of the urban fabric and local towns continue to support their use. All but two of the original seventeen Carnegie Libraries are extant and eight are listed in the National Register. Montana's Carnegie libraries continue to provide evidence of the state’s enduring respect for cultural and civic values.
Carnegie Library, Red Lodge
Red Lodge Commercial Historic District
The Red Lodge City Library opened in the Savoy Hotel in 1914 thanks to the efforts of the Women’s Club of Red Lodge. The hotel, however, was just a temporary home. The Club soon took up the campaign to secure a permanent library facility. The city appropriated $1,000 toward the effort and agreed to…
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Lewistown Carnegie Library
Lewistown Courthouse Historic District
Lewistown's first library opened in 1897 with 269 books in a corner of Mary Hanson's millinery shop. When Mrs. Hanson left town two years later, the collection moved to the office of Elizabeth Peeples, county superintendent of schools. In 1905 Lewistown received a $10,000 grant from…
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Dillon Public Library
As early as 1888, the Reverend and Mrs. Sidney Hooker of the Episcopal Church launched a book club, laying the foundation for this impressive public library. A town meeting in 1890 established a library association, and soon contributions of books, time, and money for the “free library” yielded a…
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Big Horn County Library
Hardin Commercial Historic District
Hardin women began raising money for a library in 1909. Numerous fundraisers followed, and in 1912 a hundred-book library opened in the home of Walter and Ella Fearis. After the city passed a mill levy in 1914, Walter Fearis wrote library benefactor Andrew Carnegie to solicit funds for a library…
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Carnegie Library, Kalispell
East Side Historic District
Citizens organized the Kalispell Public Library in 1897 and reorganized it as the Free Library a few years later. Holdings included 772 circulating volumes and 269 reference works. In 1900, Kalispell banker J. Harrington Edwards met with the private secretary of New York philanthropist Andrew…
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Bozeman Carnegie Library
Steel baron Andrew Carnegie viewed public libraries as a key agent of self improvement and donated roughly $41 million for the construction of 1,679 public libraries between 1886 and 1917. The Bozeman Classical Revival landmark, one of seventeen Carnegie libraries erected in Montana, was…
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Carnegie Library, Hamilton
Hamilton Commercial Historic District
Hamilton’s Ministerial Association opened the first free library in Ravalli County in April 1903 in a room donated by the Ravalli County Bank. Three months later, Hamilton voters levied a one mill tax to support the library, and the enterprise passed into public hands. In 1907, the library moved to…
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Carnegie Public Library, Big Timber
An alternative to saloons and pool halls, the Big Timber Library stayed open evenings in 1914, with the hope of “not only … educating [people] … in the right way, but keeping them from falling by the wayside, as so many do in these western towns.” Big Timber’s first library, a “branch” of the…
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Seven Carnegie libraries in Montana do not have historical markers. These libraries are in Chinook, Fort Benton, Havre, Livingston, Malta, Miles City, and Missoula. The Carnegie libraries in Glasgow and Great Falls were demolished in 1965.