Library built as part of Carnegie project

One hundred years ago, the richest man in the world was Scottish immigrant and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. In today's figures, he was worth $5 billion, the majority of which he used to build public libraries, such as Waukegan's first library.

Carnegie was born in 1835, the son of a weaver, in Dunfermline, Scotland. The family immigrated to the United States in 1848, settling in Allegheny, Pa. Carnegie worked at a cotton mill, Western Union and the Pennsylvania Railroad before beginning his own business in 1865--the Carnegie Steel Company.

Through his shrewd and often criticized business practices, Carnegie became the world's wealthiest man.

He was convinced that education was life's key and that people should have access to information for self-education. This philosophy prompted Carnegie to provide the funds to build over 2,800 libraries worldwide. The first U.S. Carnegie Library was established in Braddock, Pa. in 1889.

In 1901, the people of Waukegan petitioned Carnegie for $25,000 "to build us a stone building which would be both a monument to your own benevolence and a guiding post in the lives of the sons and daughters of our great industries."

The request may seem bold, but by 1901, Carnegie's library building project was well-known. The process of "ordering" a library from him was as simple as making a mail order purchase, provided the community was willing to give the land on which the library was to be built and match 10 percent of his gift annually.

Though Waukegan was keen to have a Carnegie library, 225 communities in the U.S. turned down his money. His "bookless" libraries were expensive to fill. In addition, his contradictory ways confused and often angered people. For example, he slashed the wages of the workers who made him rich, and then created public institutions for their benefit.

The Waukegan Carnegie library has an unusual semicircular shape and Ionian Greek style architecture and still stands at the corner of Washington Street and Sheridan Road. It was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Patton & Miller. The building was continually used as a library until 1965 when the library was relocated to a new, larger building on County Street.

After Carnegie's death in 1919, the Carnegie Corporation of New York continued his tradition of philanthropy. Waukegan's Carnegie Preservation Project, Inc. plans to restore the building and find new, adaptive uses for the community.

• Diana Dretske, author of "Lake County, Illinois: An Illustrated History," is the collections coordinator for the Lake County Discovery Museum. The Lake County Discovery Museum, a department of the Lake County Forest Preserves, is an award-winning regional history museum on Route 176, west of Fairfield Road near Wauconda. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Call (847) 968-3400 for information.