Happy birthday to Andrew Carnegie who was born on November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland. In addition to grants for libraries in the United Kingdom and the United States, Carnegie gave money for public libraries in a number of other English speaking countries including six in the Caribbean. The postcard above shows the Carnegie library in Castries, St. Lucia. According to Beverly Hinds in a paper presented at IFLA 2011 in Puerto Rico, St. Lucia was offered a Carnegie grant as early as 1904, but a grant was not awarded until 1916. The library building was completed in 1924 and opened on December 1, 1924. A fire in 1948 gutted the building and destroyed 20,000 books. The building was rebuilt within the existing walls, and continues to serve as a library. The library is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. See a recent article about the library HERE. Other Carnegie libraries in the Caribbean (Barbados, Saint Vincent, and Trinidad) have been honored on postage stamps.
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