Carnegie Libraries in the Cowboy State Cowboy Carnegies Campaign The Cowboy Carnegies campaign seeks to raise awareness of Wyoming’s Carnegie library buildings and promote their preservation and continued use. AHW recognizes the importance of the remaining Carnegie buildings, constructed as centers of community learning and gathering, and serving as the site of many formative experiences for Wyoming’s citizens. The Carnegie…
It’s the first post for the Diversity Initiative’s Preservation Month, and what better to start the month than talk about Carnegie Libraries in Wyoming and the women’s clubs that helped make them possible. This profile is written by Andrea Graham, who leads our Cowboy Carnegie program which is a traveling exhibit that has gone to cities throughout Wyoming.
Noted Wyoming architect William Dubois designed the building, and the library was dedicated on Independence Day in 1907, with 500 citizens attending the ceremonies.
The first library in Cheyenne was located in Central School in a relatively small room. As the town grew and its needs multiplied, a committee to build a new library was established in 1900, and two years later, Cheyenne had a Carnegie Library.
In 1911, Park County split from Big Horn County, and in 1914 the Park County commissioners appointed a board for a public library system. The city council immediately applied again for a Carnegie Public Library Building grant.
The Big Horn County Library was created in 1907 by the Book Lovers’ Club, an organization created by a group of women in Basin in 1906.