Elkhart Public Library receives Carnegie Foundation gift

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Elkhart Public Library received a $10,000 gift from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

As one of the 1,681 free public libraries funded by Andrew Carnegie between 1886 and 1917, EPL received the gift from the philanthropic foundation.

The gift is part of the Carnegie Libraries 250, and was given to each of the 1,280 surviving libraries started by Carnegie’s efforts.

According to the Carnegie Corporation’s news release, the gift can be used to further the library’s mission and benefit its community.

Plans for how EPL will use the funds will be announced later.

EPL opened on Oct. 2, 1903, in its original Carnegie library building at Second and High streets. At the time, Carnegie’s gift was $37,000, with the rest raised locally by Andrew H. “Hub” Beardsley and his wife, Helen.

It moved across the street in 1963 to its current location, financed by the Martin Foundation, founded by Esther and Ross Martin of NIBCO Inc.