1,280 Carnegie libraries in the U.S. to receive $10,000 each

Select U.S. libraries on Wednesday received word of an unexpected windfall.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York, a philanthropy founded in 1911 by the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, announced that it would be sending $10,000 checks to all remaining Carnegie libraries in the U.S. in 2026 to honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The gift totals $20 million.

Carnegie funded the construction of nearly 1,700 libraries in the U.S. from 1886 to 1917. According to the foundation, 1,280 of them are still operational and acknowledge their link to Carnegie. All of those will receive the $10,000, though only about 750 of them are in their original Carnegie-funded buildings.

The Western Pennsylvania region hosts more than a dozen such libraries.

Pittsburgh