CARNEGIE LIBRARY

Inscription

CARNEGIE LIBRARY
ERECTED IN 1911 AS
GIFT OF ANDREW CARNEGIE.
REPLACED LIBRARY LOCATED
IN FORMER THERESA
TOWN HALL BLOCK.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2020

In 1911, the town of Theresa in Jefferson County, New York, erected a new library building to replace the previous library located in the former town hall block. The new library building was funded by a gift from Andrew Carnegie secured the previous year. The January 26, 1910 edition of the Watertown Re-union, notified the public that the town had received a gift of $7,500 dollars from Mr. Carnegie for a new library building, on the condition that the town raise $750 a year to support the continued operation and maintenance of the library. A month later, the Watertown Re-union reported that the town voted to accept the gift from Mr. Carnegie and agreed to raise the annual $750 funding to support the library. Plans for the new library building were prepared by architect A.F. Lansing of Watertown and were approved by the town board and library trustees by July 1910. Work was started on the new building in September of that year.

On August 17, 1911, the Watertown Daily Times reported on the dedication of the completed Carnegie library building in Theresa. The event was widely attended and included speeches from those involved in securing the new library, after which the completed building was formally “turned over” to the library trustees. The Watertown Daily Times concluded:

“The building is the first of its kind to be erected by Mr. Carnegie in the smaller villages of the state and will long stand as one of the town’s best assets in the training of the young and the giving of help and knowledge to the people of the town.”

As of 2022, the Theresa Free Library continues to serve its community in the Carnegie library building at 301 Main Street.