The Phoenix Carnegie Library and Library Park, now known as the Carnegie Center, is a historic site in Phoenix, Arizona. Completed in 1908, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.BackgroundThe first Phoenix public library opened in the spring of 1898 thanks to the efforts of the Friday Club, whose members collected books and secured two rooms on the second floor of the Fleming Block, one of the largest office buildings in downtown Phoenix. This venture was so well received that the following spring, the Phoenix Library Association was formed and the expanded library moved into a room in Phoenix City Hall which had been vacated by the legislative assembly, having moved to the new capitol building made the rooms available for other purposes. The books of the library were now for the first time catalogued by the Dewey system.The success of the library made necessary a more permanent and structured arrangement, and the Library Association consequently endeavored to transfer the project to the city. However, this could not be accomplished until March 1901 after an amendment to the territorial statutes. At this time, the Phoenix Public Library was established, with 1350 volumes.Since 1899 the Library Association had been unsuccessfully attempting to secure a grant from Andrew Carnegie, and in December 1901 the Phoenix Woman's Club joined the campaign. Some progress was made in March 1902 when the city agreed to put up the required 10% of the anticipated $25,000 grant and to levy an annual tax of 5 mills on the dollar. In June, the city agreed to furnish the site if the grant was received.
