A 1876 census of libraries in the United States listed fewer than 300 public libraries.
Between 1886 and 1919, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who was one of the wealthiest men in American history, donated more than $40 million to aid communities throughout the United States in building public libraries.
A 1919 American survey identified 1,946 Carnegie Libraries. Forty-three of those libraries were built in Washington State, two of them in Yakima County: North Yakima Public Library in 1906, and Sunnyside Public Library in 1911.
This exhibit will focus on the Carnegie Libraries built in the Yakima Valley.
