Credit: Sabatini Architects
Ottawa Library’s board, staff, and city are proud of our history as a Carnegie Library. The Ottawa Carnegie Library was dedicated in 1902, and we remained in that building for 93 years. We moved into the newly purchased City Hall building at 105 S. Hickory Street in 1996. In February 2025, we purchased a historic building in downtown Ottawa — the Coca-Cola Bottling Company at 204 S. Walnut Street — to renovate for our new library building. Our generous gift from Carnegie Corporation of New York will be used toward the renovation of that building. We will have a special area in the new building dedicated to Andrew Carnegie and all that he has done, not only in the establishment of our library but in libraries around the world. During our summer reading programming, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and will recognize Carnegie and Carnegie Corporation of New York during our celebrations. We have had much excitement as we work toward raising $10 million to renovate this historic building, which will double our size, bring our Friends bookstore under the same roof, and provide a drive-through.
Patrons and community members are excited that the library will remain in downtown Ottawa and loved hearing about Andrew Carnegie’s story in the creation of our local library in our press release. Thank you so much!
This story was submitted by a Carnegie Library that received a $10,000 gift as part of the Carnegie Libraries 250 initiative. Did your library receive a gift? Share how you’re spending it here.
