The story of the Carnegie Library in Patchogue is a great case study in library history. The village started with an association library in the late 1800s, a subscription-based collection of books that floated between stores and offices and languished for lack of funds. Then the women's suffragist organization Sorosis spearheaded the effort to turn the neglected collection into a New York State-chartered public library by 1900.

The next leap was a $10,000 donation (later raised to $15,000) from steel magnate and library philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The money funded the construction of a neo-classical building on Lake St. that brought state-of-the-art library service to the people of Patchogue. However, by the end of the 20th century the public library had moved down the block, Briarcliff College had come and gone, and the Carnegie building sat empty, soon endangered by looming development.

The story has a happy ending as the building now sits at the corner of West Main St. and West Ave, serving as a vibrant teen center and a museum for the Greater Patchogue Historical Society. How did that happen? Listen to Patchogue librarians Jessi Bouchelle and Gary Lutz, along with the Historical Society's Steve Lucas, tell the tale.

Further Research

Teen Center at the Patchogue Carnegie Library
Patchogue Medford Library History
Greater Patchogue Historical Society
Carnegie Libraries Across America
Van Slyck, Abigail A. "" The Utmost Amount of Effectiv [sic] Accommodation": Andrew Carnegie and the Reform of the American Library." The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 50, no. 4 (1991): 359-383.
Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0

Episode 215: The Carnegie Library of Patchogue