The Brownwood Community Library Association is honored to receive a $10,000 gift from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the foundation established by Andrew Carnegie. The award is part of Carnegie Libraries 250, a special initiative celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and honoring the roughly 1,280 Carnegie Libraries still serving their communities across the United States.

Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries nationwide between 1886 and 1917. Approximately 750 of them continue to use their original buildings, while others have moved to new locations. Opened in 1904, our library is one of 32 Carnegie Libraries in Texas built through this historic program.

“Brownwood Library is so honored to be a part of the rich legacy of Andrew Carnegie and the libraries across the country and across the world founded with support from Mr. Carnegie,” said Library Director Becky Isbell. “We are thankful to the Carnegie Corporation for its gift to the Carnegie Libraries.”

“Our founder, Andrew Carnegie, who championed the free public library movement of the late 19th century, described libraries as ‘cradles of democracy’ that ‘strengthen the democratic idea, the equality of the citizen, and the royalty of man,’” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie and former head of the University of Oxford. “We still believe this and are delighted to celebrate our connection to the libraries he founded.”

The Brownwood Library used the funds to replace the broken air conditioner unit at the Local History and Genealogy Library, where last year, more than 1,000 people researched local history and genealogy, including many from out of state who came to Brownwood specifically to research. Two people even visited the Genealogy Library from other countries!

We recently had a local patron who had actually traveled to other states to find certain information on her ancestor, but couldn’t find all that she was searching for. When she visited the Brownwood Local History and Genealogy Library, she was delighted to find a picture of the preacher who baptized her as a child and her grandparents marriage license. But she was astonished to find the birth certificate of her great-great grandfather—which she had not even been able to find in the state where he was born.

She was actually shaking at discovered this. It’s not unusual for patrons at the Genealogy and Local History Library to be overwhelmed when they find that link to their ancestor they’ve been searching for.

Patrons are invited to share their Brownwood Library photos, stories, and community celebrations at carnegielibraries.org.