Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.
Anne Herbert is an American writer who is best-known for coining the phrase, "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty." (This quote was inspired by underground comics artist Gilbert Shelton's "Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.")
On this date in 1901, Andrew Carnegie gave $60,000 to Joplin, Missouri, for the construction of a public library -- one of 1689 Carnegie libraries built in the United States. The Joplin library was a second home for me when I was growing up. I would have to say that other than my parents, my grandparents, and my piano teacher, no one had a greater influence on my childhood than Andrew Carnegie.
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| Joplin's Carnegie Library |
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How did the library weather the tornado?
ReplyDeleteMy former home of Ithaca had a great library which I used a lot, and one of the things I was concerned about in moving to Granbury, TX was that there'd be no library or at best a very limited one.
I was very pleased to discover that Granbury in fact has a very nice library. Not the size or scope of Ithaca's of course, but modern, well-stocked, staffed by helpful people, good hours, and connected to the inter-library loan system that can get you about anything you want.
Fortunately, the Joplin library -- they built a new one maybe 20 years ago -- was a mile or two north of the path of the tornado.
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