Madison Public Library received a $20,000 gift from Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The award is part of Carnegie Libraries 250, an initiative celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and honoring the roughly 1,280 Carnegie Libraries still serving their communities across the United States.
Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries nationwide between 1886 and 1917. Approximately 750 of them continue to use their original buildings, while others have moved to new locations.
Madison is home to two Carnegie Libraries built within seven years of each other with an investment from Carnegie Corporation of New York totaling $90,000.
The first Carnegie Library built in Madison was the original location for the Central Library, opened in 1906 at Carroll and Dayton streets.
In 1911, the Carnegie Corporation of New York gifted Madison $15,000 to construct what would eventually be known as the Hawthorne Library.
