The Carnegie Public Library (Former) on Allardice Street in Dannevirke was built in 1907-1908. It was one of 18 libraries built in New Zealand underwritten by Scottish-American billionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie through his global program to fund the construction of free libraries. Among the New Zealand Carnegie Libraries twelve survive, though only two retain their original purpose. Dannevirke’s former library incorporates architectural and historical significance on both a local and international level. Sharing the distinctive brick and concrete façade of several of Dannevirke’s civic buildings, at the time it was commissioned the Bush Advocate described it as, ‘one of the first public buildings of any consequence in the town.’ Simultaneously, the presence of a Carnegie-funded building links Dannevirke both culturally and aesthetically to small towns in Scotland, South Africa, the United States and Canada.
A self-educated man born in poverty, Carnegie made his fortune first in railways and then in steel. Aware that as a young man in Pittsburgh, he benefitted from access to a rich benefactor’s library, Carnegie sought to establish free libraries for the use of all. By 1919 over 2500 libraries had been commissioned world-wide. The grants entailed three major conditions: that the town provide the land, free from debt; that funds for the stocking and maintenance be provided through local sources; and that the libraries be free to patrons. Dannevirke already had a small, struggling subscription library when the Borough Council applied to Carnegie for a replacement. They were successful and received £2000 to construct the new library.
Carnegie provided grant recipients with indicative plans, though these were more prescriptive of the interior layouts. Individual towns had the freedom to contract their own architects. Nevertheless many of the libraries, particularly those in smaller towns, share visual elements of ‘Carnegie Classical Revival’, a subsection of neo-classical architecture. Characteristics include long flat facades augmented by entranceway columns and a triangular pediment. Most Carnegie libraries, regardless of style, featured large windows designed to take full advantage of daylight to illuminate the reading rooms. The Carnegie Public Library (Former) in Dannevirke fits the neo-classical model with some Palladian influences such as the rustication and decorative arch around the doorway, and the original urns along the top balustrade. It incorporates a number aspects of Carnegie Classical, including twin fluted Corinthian columns on either side of the entranceway and a classical pediment. The interior featured a reference room, the open-shelved collection, a magazine room, a newspaper room, a ladies reading room, and librarians’ workspaces, all laid out symmetrically along a central axis. The pressed-steel ceilings were particularly noted and commented upon.
Earthquakes further shaped the building’s fabric including the removal of damaged rooftop ornamentation after a quake in 1934 and some seismic retro-fitting that occurred around the mid- twentieth century, possibly after the 1942 Wairarapa quake. In 1984, a new library was constructed, after which, the building housed a number of community organisations. After a determination in 2014 that the building was earthquake prone, it was vacated pending either strengthening or demolition.
A self-educated man born in poverty, Carnegie made his fortune first in railways and then in steel. Aware that as a young man in Pittsburgh, he benefitted from access to a rich benefactor’s library, Carnegie sought to establish free libraries for the use of all. By 1919 over 2500 libraries had been commissioned world-wide. The grants entailed three major conditions: that the town provide the land, free from debt; that funds for the stocking and maintenance be provided through local sources; and that the libraries be free to patrons. Dannevirke already had a small, struggling subscription library when the Borough Council applied to Carnegie for a replacement. They were successful and received £2000 to construct the new library.
Carnegie provided grant recipients with indicative plans, though these were more prescriptive of the interior layouts. Individual towns had the freedom to contract their own architects. Nevertheless many of the libraries, particularly those in smaller towns, share visual elements of ‘Carnegie Classical Revival’, a subsection of neo-classical architecture. Characteristics include long flat facades augmented by entranceway columns and a triangular pediment. Most Carnegie libraries, regardless of style, featured large windows designed to take full advantage of daylight to illuminate the reading rooms. The Carnegie Public Library (Former) in Dannevirke fits the neo-classical model with some Palladian influences such as the rustication and decorative arch around the doorway, and the original urns along the top balustrade. It incorporates a number aspects of Carnegie Classical, including twin fluted Corinthian columns on either side of the entranceway and a classical pediment. The interior featured a reference room, the open-shelved collection, a magazine room, a newspaper room, a ladies reading room, and librarians’ workspaces, all laid out symmetrically along a central axis. The pressed-steel ceilings were particularly noted and commented upon.
Earthquakes further shaped the building’s fabric including the removal of damaged rooftop ornamentation after a quake in 1934 and some seismic retro-fitting that occurred around the mid- twentieth century, possibly after the 1942 Wairarapa quake. In 1984, a new library was constructed, after which, the building housed a number of community organisations. After a determination in 2014 that the building was earthquake prone, it was vacated pending either strengthening or demolition.
