Georgia Town Returns to Its Carnegie Library Roots

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By Sean Fitzpatrick

A week of festivities commemorated the September 15 rededication to its original mission of suburban Atlanta’s Newnan Carnegie Library after having relinquished its original role 22 years ago. “Newnan is probably the only Carnegie library anywhere to be transitioned to another purpose and reopened as a library,” Andrew Carnegie historian Glenn Walsh asserted at the ceremony, according to the September 16 Newnan Times-Herald, after which the Royal Scottish Country Dancers performed in honor of Carnegie’s ethnicity.

The oldest existing Carnegie library in Georgia, NCL first opened in 1904 with a $10,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie and served area residents until 1987, when a larger facility was completed some three miles away. The Carnegie went on to become a courthouse annex for almost two decades, until a new judicial building was completed in 2007, leaving the building vacant. City of Newnan spokesperson Gina Snider told American Libraries that a Friends of the Carnegie group soon formed to strategize how to reclaim the downtown landmark as a library. Within a year, they had won the support of city officials, who the local newspaper, and the community at large, whose enthusiasm was documented with a needs-assessment survey (PDF file). “We definitely needed a library-type facility in the downtown area,” Snider explained.

The $1.5-million renovation project was funded by a one-cent Special Local Options Sales Tax approved in 2007, as well as some $400,000 redirected from the city’s contribution to the Coweta County Public Library. Although the restoration evokes the building’s early 20th-century origins, the only architectural details original to the Carnegie are its wood columns and its ceilings. Also restored is the iconic “Newnan City of Homes” sign that sits atop the library and greets residents and visitors to the downtown area.

The first floor of the reopened Newnan-Carnegie now serves as an early literacy center for young families and a number of preschool centers within walking distance. Also available is a reading room whose noncirculating collection contains newspapers and popular magazines; Wi-Fi access; and computer workstations. The second floor, which can be accessed through a separate street entrance, serves as a meeting space for adult programming as well as gallery space for local exhibits. Patrons interested in borrowing materials still have privileges at Coweta County Public Library’s 22-year-old Newnan branch down the road.

American Libraries, Wed, 09/23/2009 - 09:10