Georgia Town Returns to Its Carnegie Library Roots
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 the city’s general fund, and $250,000 came from the 2007 Special Local Option Tax. 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 near-total refurbishment already undergone by the Carnegie undoubtedly made the transformation more feasible. Acknowledging that “Carnegie buildings are often seen to be at odds with current library practices,” library building consultant Anders Dahlgren told American Libraries that the “broad, formal stairs” in the iconic facilities’ two-story style is usually a barrier to providing access to people with disabilities, as are upgrades to a century-old electrical infrastructure. Nonetheless, Dahlgren noted, the Howell (Mich.) Carnegie Library, which has been in continuous operation since its 1906 opening, “addressed access requirements while respecting the integrity of the original entry” with a complementary addition behind the historic facility, a project that won an American Institute of Architects–ALA Library Building Award in 1993. He also said that while “it’s hard to rewire a Carnegie library,” improvements to wireless technologies “mitigate the difficulties inherent in renovating older structures.”
Indeed, Wi-Fi access is a prominent feature of the reopened Newnan-Carnegie. Its first floor now serves as an early literacy center for young families and a number of preschool centers within walking distance. Also available are computer workstations and a reading room whose noncirculating collection contains newspapers and popular magazines. 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.
—Sean Fitzpatrick and Beverly Goldberg, American Libraries;
Posted on September 22, 2009; modified on September 23, 2009.