Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries

The Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries is a combined library and gallery in the city centre, housed in a building that brings together the original 1883 Carnegie Library with a major contemporary extension. The library itself has been updated into a modern public resource, but the history of the Carnegie library project is well-told, and the building retains its original architectural character in the older parts.

The galleries section hosts temporary exhibitions of art and local history, with a rotating programme that draws on regional and national collections. Admission to the galleries is free. The library is the obvious starting point for anyone interested in the Carnegie story before visiting the birthplace museum a few minutes' walk away.

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A story
The Dunfermline Carnegie Library, which opened in 1883, was the first library in the world to be funded by Andrew Carnegie. His system required that local authorities contribute the land and running costs, while he provided the building. Carnegie regarded public libraries as the greatest instrument for self-improvement a community could possess — he had taught himself in a private library as a child in Pittsburgh, and never forgot the debt. The system he established here was replicated in 2,509 libraries on five continents.