Quote:
Originally Posted by pietrocrazy
I really do believe that if libraries didn't already exist, Americans would oppose their creation and call them "socialist", "big government", part of the "welfare state".
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Actually, Americans did oppose their creation. It took Andrew Carnegie's perserverance and wealth to establish the free, public library. Benjamin Franklin's library system, which was the original library system in America, was a for-profit library to which one paid a fee.
Carnegie, an immigrant to America who made his fortune in steel, among other enterprises, valued education and the public good. He was the original true philanthropist in that he gave away all his money to public welfare causes. He also championed free public education, which was something else most Americans opposed.