Morgan County Public Library: A Carnegie legacy

The Morgan County Public Library was founded in 1906 after Andrew Carnegie donated $12,500 for its construction.

That donation would have only been enough to build a brick library, but local officials preferred to have a limestone building, since the region is so well known for its limestone. They did some additional fundraising on their own through the sale of bonds. The additional $2,400.00 was enough to build a beautiful limestone library that celebrated its grand opening in September 1908 with a collection of 1,500 books.

In 1990, the library underwent a $1.7 million expansion and renovation. In 1996, the library underwent a historic restoration and interior remodeling. The last expansion was completed in 2020, leaving the library with a total of 28,700 square feet of beautiful space, which houses more than 100,000 volumes.

(Prepared by the Morgan County Leadership Academy Class of 2022 on behalf of the Morgan County Bicentennial Committee)