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List of Carnegie libraries in Oceania

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This is a list of Carnegie libraries in Oceania. Although most of Carnegie's philanthropic efforts were aimed at North America and Europe, a handful of libraries are scattered in other English-speaking areas of the world. New Zealand, with 18 Carnegie libraries, received the fourth-most libraries of any country.

Australia

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Carnegie financed four libraries in Australia.[1]

City or
locality 		State Image Date
granted[2][3] 		Grant
amount[2][4] 		Inflation adjusted amount Location Notes
1 Hobart Tasmania 6 Oct 1902 $36,505 $1,285,538
2 Midland Junction Western Australia 2 Dec 1909 $7,300 $247,551
3 Mildura Victoria 23 Jun 1906 $9,825 $333,177
4 Northcote Victoria 13 Mar 1909 $14,610 $495,441
Total — — — — $68,240 $2,314,094 — —

Fiji

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There is a Carnegie library in Suva, Fiji's capital, funded by the philanthropist with a $7,300 grant ($238,710 today) on 13 December 1907.[2]

Malaysia

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There was a Carnegie library in Kota Bharu.[5] The library is now called Kelantan Public Library Corporation.

Mauritius

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There is a Carnegie library in Curepipe.[5]

New Zealand

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carnegie libraries in New Zealand.

The money for Carnegie libraries in the Dominions (the contemporary term used for former colonies such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa within the British Empire) was administered from New York. Twenty-five towns and boroughs applied for funding and eighteen libraries were provided in New Zealand. The country had the fourth-highest number of Carnegie libraries, behind the USA, the UK and Canada:[1]

Town Region Image Date
granted[2][3] 		Grant
amount[2][4] 		Location Notes
1 Alexandra Otago 2 Dec 1909 $3,880 Demolished in 1978[6]
2 Balclutha Otago 2 Apr 1913 $4,870
3 Cambridge Waikato 14 Dec 1908 $4,870
4 Dannevirke Manawatū-Whanganui 10 Apr 1906 $9,690 Threatened by demolition as of August 2020[7]
5 Dunedin Otago 19 Sep 1902 $48,700 Moray Place Dunedin Public Library moved to a new building in 1981.
6 Fairlie Canterbury 31 Jan 1913 $4,875
7 Gore Southland 10 Jul 1907 $9,750 14 Hokonui Drive Eastern Southland Gallery
8 Greymouth West Coast 5 Oct 1904 $10,967 Destroyed by arson in 1947[6]
9 Hamilton Waikato 23 Apr 1906 $9,720 354 Victoria Street Opened 27 February 1908; demolished in 1960[6]
10 Hastings Hawke's Bay 29 May 1905 $12,175 Opened in 1907; demolished in 1931[6]
11 Hokitika West Coast 20 Jun 1905 $12,175 Hokitika Museum
12 Levin Manawatū-Whanganui 28 Sep 1909 $7,290 Demolished in 1965[6]
13 Marton Manawatū-Whanganui 23 Jul 1914 $6,075
14 New Plymouth Taranaki 13 Feb 1906 $12,150 Demolished in 1957[6]
15 Onehunga Auckland 15 Jul 1909 $9,720
16 Thames Waikato 7 Jan 1904 $9,760 In 2014 the library was restored and extended to provide archive and genealogy facilities for the Thames Coromandel area[8]
17 Timaru Canterbury 14 Jun 1906 $21,010
18 Westport West Coast 10 Sep 1903 $9,720 Lyndhurst Street The library moved to a new building in 2003[9]
Total — — — — $207,397 — —

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Rodgers, Kerry. "Carnegie libraries". New Zealand Geographic. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Anderson, pp. 94–98.
  3. ^ a b Miller, pp. 21–40.
  4. ^ a b The amounts listed here were mostly granted in British pounds. In general the conversion rate used by the Carnegie Corporation was £1 = $5.
  5. ^ a b Wee, S.C. (18 March 1982). "Rare Carnegie Library in Malaysia to be demolished". UPI.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Carnegie libraries slideshow". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Former Carnegie Library's future bleak". Heritage New Zealand. August 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  8. ^ "The Treasury Research Centre & Archive". Architectus New Zealand. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  9. ^ jshaffner (11 March 2013). "Winning Westport". The Librarian is IN. Retrieved 13 October 2020.

References

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  • Anderson, Florence (1963). Carnegie Corporation Library Program, 1911–1961. New York: Carnegie Corporation. OCLC 525904.
  • Miller, Durand R. (1943). Carnegie Grants for Library Buildings, 1890–1917. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. OCLC 2603611.
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