In 1912, the president of the Paulding Public Library Association wrote a letter of inquiry to Andrew Carnegie to find out if it would be possible to obtain a grant for the construction of a public library. Specifically they were interested in obtaining the funds for a county library. The response from Carnegie was expressed in a letter dating February 12, 1912 (transcribed in part here with existing errors in spelling, etc.):
Mrs. E. E. Edge
President of Library Ass'n
Paulding, Ohio
Madam,
Your letter of February 9th received. Mr. Carnegie can
only consider incorporated communities of a size and with resources sufficient
to carry on a library from the proceeds of a tax levy for the purpose. The
only community in your county appears to be Paulding with 2000 people, and
possibly Antwerp with 1187 people. Unless the township joins with the
village in each case, in which several others could in double qualify. Mr.
Carnegie cannot consider erecting a library building for the county, because it
would be impracticable. The money that would have to be allowed for the
erection of a county library bilding would leav nothing over for the erection of
library bildings in the different communities, and they would sooner or later
when them provided.
Mr. Carnegie is prepared to consider the claim of any of the
townships and villages combined; each one on its merits...
At first Carnegie refused to consider the plan, stating
that other communities in the county would also want libraries, but did not have
enough population to warrant the grant. However, the Library Association
was persistent in their vision for a county library and explained to him that
the county library would provide countywide service through book stations.
They held up the Brumback Library in Van Wert a a shining example of a county
library. (The Brumback Library, funded by a local philanthropist lays
claim as the first county library in the United States.) Carnegie changed his
mind and granted $40,000, making the Paulding County Carnegie Library the first
county library in the Untied states funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New
York. The following is typed transcription of the exact text of that
letter dated the 15th of July 1912:
The County Commissioners
Paulding County, Ohio
Dear Sirs:
Responding to
your communications on behalf of Paulding County, Ohio, if the County agree by
resolution to maintain a Free Public Library at a cost of not less than Four
thousand Dollars ($4,000) a year, and provide a suitable site for the bilding,
Carnegie Corporation of New York will be glad to give Forty thousand Dollars
($40,000) to erect a Free Public Library Building for Paulding County.
It should be noted that the amount indicated is to cover the
cost of Library building complete, ready for occupancy and for the purpose
intended.
Before any expenditure on building or plans is incurred, the
approval of proposed plans by Carnegie Corporation of New York should be
secured, to obtain which please send sketch plans for inspection.
Yours respectfully,
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie had two further requirements to be met before the plan could reach fruition: the obtaining of a site and the approval of the building plans. A.S. Latty's widow, Rebecca S. Latty, solved the first problem by donating the four lots on South Main Street. The Columbus (OH) architectural firm Howard & Merriam, who also designed the first Presidential library in the United States (the Rutherford B. Hayes Library in Fremont, Ohio), solved the second.
Carnegie had begun requiring the submission of building
plans for approval after viewing one library that he felt wasted his money by
having "too many pillars." He was determined to utilize his money
practically and functionally for the public good, rather then in the
construction of massive monuments to pretentiousness. Thus the way was
cleared for the first county Carnegie library in the United States. In
1984 the library was registered on the National Register of Historic Places by
the United States Department of the Interior.