Built by grants from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation and other local contributors, the Livermore Carnegie Library opened its doors in May of 1911. The library traces its roots back to the Livermore Public Library Association of 1878 and then later both the Ladies’ League of Progress and the men’s Social Club.

Being a public library, it was open to anyone who came through her doors. After staying open for 55 years, the city of Livermore decided to close the library on Labor Day of 1966, and built a new one near the current Civic Center. When the new library opened, there became a public outcry to save the Carnegie Library, and they succeeded.

Now a museum, it houses the Livermore Heritage Guild, who shares the building with the Livermore Art Association Gallery and has been doing so since 1974. The library is also part of the Carnegie Park, which is part of the Livermore Department of Parks and Recreation. Long before the library opened, the land once belonged to a man named Peter McKeany; who owned and operated a butcher slaughterhouse with corrals.

Between 1889 and 1923 Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation have been providing funding for 1,681 public library buildings in over 1,400 U.S. communities. Andrew wanted to make sure that the libraries were to stay open for as long as they can; by making two conditions: one in order to get money for the library – the community had to agree to continuously support the library as well as pick and provide a suitable site for the library to stand. With only 900 public libraries in 1896, there became close to 4,000 in 1925. Today the U.S. has just about 9,000 public libraries and almost 6,300 additional libraries branched in different locations.