Carnegie Library & Doughboy

Just feet away from Old Main, the second stop on this tour, you are now at the site of the campus library. Despite Furman University first opening in 1826, the University did not have a fully functioning library until 1907, when Carnegie Library was constructed.

Andrew Carnegie, a wealthy philanthropist at the time, covered a large share of the cost for the library. By the time of his death, Carnegie was actually responsible for providing about half of the libraries in the nation as whole, with South Carolina receiving 18 of these libraries as a result of his generosity.

When construction was finally completed, Furman’s new library boasted a General Delivery Room, a Reference Room, a Periodical Room, a card catalogue, and overall had room for about 25,000 books.

Carnegie Library began to suffer during the time of the Depression, resulting in the library having only about 300 new volumes during this period.

With the help of a Rockefeller Foundation Grant, in 1936, Carnegie Library was able to hire more staff and acquire more books. However, just ten years later, the campus found the library overcrowded with more students than ever; too many needed the limited technological resources of phonograph players, slide projectors, and a 16mm film projector.

Carnegie Library was replaced with the James B. Duke Library in 1956, a massive library on the new campus. Still it is hard to imagine cultural heritage buildings like the beautiful old Carnegie Library torn down in 1961. Imagine Furman's library, which is similarly 60 years old, being bulldozed for a tasteless shopping mall today!

Sources Used:

Carnegie Libraries in South Carolina Exhibit Opens in Hipp Hall Gallery. (2016). Retrieved from https://news.furman.edu/2016/12/05/carnegie-libraries-in-south-carolina-exhibit-opens-in-hipp-hall-gallery/

History of the Furman University Libraries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://libguides.furman.edu/library/history

Plyler, John Jr. and Tollison, Courtney, "John Plyler Jr. Furman Driving Tour" (2006). Furman University Oral Histories. 33. https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/oral-histories/33/