The Dunfermline Carnegie Library opened in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

, Scotland, on 29 August 1883 and was the world's first Carnegie Library funded by the Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

. It was designed by

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

architect James Campbell Walker who also designed the nearby

Dunfermline City Chambers Dunfermline City Chambers is a municipal facility at the corner of Bridge Street and Kirkgate in Dunfermline, Fife. The building, which serves as home to the local area committee of Fife Council, is a Category A listed building. History The bui ...

. Andrew Carnegie donated £8000 to building and stocking what would be the first of over 2,500 Carnegie Libraries. The library was made a

Category B listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern ...

building in 1971.

History

In 1879, Andrew Carnegie put plans in place to fund a new library for his birthplace, Dunfermline,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Building plans were prepared by James Campbell Walker in 1880, and on 27 July 1881 the foundation stone was laid by Carnegie's mother, Margaret Carnegie. The opening of the library in 1883 was regarded as the most significant local event of the year and a public holiday was declared. The facilities included a library room, ladies' and gentlemen's reading rooms, a recreation room, a smoking room, and a flat for the librarian. The first librarian was Alexander Peebles, an Edinburgh

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

who was selected for the role from 250 applicants. The library proved to be a success however it was soon found to be too small, and the layout was unsuitable. To address these problems the newly formed Carnegie Dunfermline Trust took joint control of the library with the town council, and in 1904 began an extension, designed by James Shearer, which would more than doubled the size of the original building. As a result of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the extension was not completed until 1922. After the extension was completed, full control of the library returned to the town council, with the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust contributing £400 a year to the library until 1958. Another extension was added to the south of the building and was opened on 2 March 1993 which provided the library with new meeting and exhibition rooms, children and music libraries and a local history room. In November 2017, the library was awarded the

RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award The RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award is an annual architecture prize in Scotland. Organised by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), it was named in memory of the awards founder and patron, Andrew Doolan. Establ ...

Archaeology

An archaeology dig called Dig Dunfermline took place over six weeks in August and September 2013 on the site of what is now Dunfermline's new museum and art gallery which connects to the library. There were several finds including a tile from a smokeless stove possibly from the 16th century, the foundations of a medieval building and leather fragments.

Museum and art gallery

In spring 2014, the Dunfermline Carnegie Library was closed as part of the museum and art gallery project. The project was planned to take place over two years and cost £10.8 million with the library reopening in summer 2016. This was extended to spring 2017 and the cost rose to £12.4 million. It was designed by Scottish architect Richard Murphy and includes a museum spanning over two floors, a local studies centre, three exhibition galleries, a children's library and a cafe. The museum and art gallery opened on 18 May 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunfermline Carnegie Library Carnegie libraries in Scotland Library buildings completed in 1883 Public libraries in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Fife Listed library buildings in Scotland 1883 establishments in Scotland Museums established in 2017 Libraries established in 1883 Museums in Dunfermline Buildings and structures in Dunfermline

History

Archaeology

Museum and art gallery

See also

References