EUREKA SPRINGS — If he had a little extra facial hair, it would be hard to tell Alan Epley from Andrew Carnegie.
Epley, who already has a goatee and mustache, is growing a full beard. He will spend much of 2010 impersonating Carnegie, the steel baron-turned-philanthropist who donated about $1 billion in today’s dollars to fund thousands of libraries around the world, including one in this Ozarks village.
Epley is a retired circuit judge who occasionally hears cases by appointment. He’s also vice president of the board for the Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library, which celebrates its centennial next year.
“It’s part of the EurekaSprings mystique that we treat things from the historical perspective,” Epley said. “Eureka Springs is a different place, and one of the reasons we’re different is we don’t just tear things down and build a parking lot.”
Epley said he will have several opportunities during the year to dress in turn-ofthe-20th-century clothing and play the part of Carnegieat library events in Eureka Springs. Carnegie, who was born in Scotland and lived most of his life in Pennsylvania, died in 1919 at age 83.
Carnegie donated $15,500 toward the Eureka Springs library at 194 Spring St. Adjusted for inflation, that would be about $354,000 in today’s dollars. Work began on the building in 1910 and was completed in 1912.
During the process, Carnegie occasionally corresponded with Eureka Springs officials such as Festus Orestes Butt, a former mayor, president of the Eureka Springs library board and later a state senator.
The Eureka Springs library is one of two Carnegie libraries still open in Arkansas. The other is the Conway County Library in Morrilton.
At one time, Arkansas had four Carnegie libraries. The other two were in Little Rock and Fort Smith. The largest Carnegie grant to an Arkansas library went to Little Rock’s Carnegie Library, which received $88,100. That library was torn down in 1964.
The building that served as the Fort Smith Carnegie Library now houses KFSM Channel 5, the CBS television affiliate. The Fort Smith library received $25,000 from Carnegie. The Morrilton library received the least amount from Carnegie for an Arkansas library - $10,000.
In the late 18th and early19th centuries, Carnegie funded 2,509 libraries worldwide at a total cost of about $56 million, according to the Carnegie Corp.’s Web site, carnegie.org. Adjusted for inflation, that would be about $935 million in today’s dollars. Of that total, Carnegie funded 1,679 libraries in the United States costing $41.2 million (about $686 million in current currency). Carnegie also funded libraries from South Africa to Fiji.
By 1919, nearly half of the 3,500 libraries in the United States were funded with construction grants provided by Carnegie, earning him the nickname “Patron Saint of Libraries.”
“Carnegie libraries were often the most imposing buildings in town by far,” according to an article on the Carnegie Corp. Web site.
A century ago, Eureka Springs had about four times the population that it does today. In 2000, the population of Eureka Springs was 2,278.
Eureka Springs’ 3,500-square-foot Carnegie library was built on a hillside where two limestone staircases led to a gazebo. Behind the gazebo, one staircase led up a hill to the Crescent Hotel. The staircases to the gazebo, and foundation of the gazebo, were retained and used in the library’s construction. Jean Elderwind, director of the library, said the staircases and “front porch” date from about 1886.
Lynn Larson, chairman of the library’s centennial committee, said Carnegie liked the idea of stairs leading up to libraries.
“He thought that education was elevated and that the approach to the library was uplifting,” she said.
R.C. Kerens, a EurekaSprings investor, donated the land for the library. St. Louis architect George W. Hellmuth designed the Classical Revival-style native limestone building, which was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Since 1956, the library has received tax revenue from Carroll County property owners, as well as donations. In 2000, it joined the Carroll and Madison County Library System along with the other libraries in Carroll County. Books can be exchanged between any of the libraries in Carroll and Madison counties.
Epley said library officialsconducted a survey about 15 years ago to find out what residents liked about the facility.
“The No. 1 response was, ‘Don’t move the library, don’t change anything,’” he said.
The library has 34,695 books, a large children’s section and seven computers with free Internet use. It has wireless Internet but no coffee shop. “My Christmas wish would be for a coffee shop,” Elderwind said.
Mezzanine levels were added on each side - one in 1977 and the other in 1989 - to provide more shelf room for books.
Lucilla Garrett, who is secretary of the library board, said more than 7,000 books have been checked out of the Eureka Springs library each month since July. That’s impressive for a town of 2,278 people, she said.
In a town where residents can be passionate about issues, Garrett said the library is a peaceful zone that draws people from throughout the community.
“This is the Switzerland of Eureka Europe,” she said. “It is a demilitarized zone.”
Epley said the library board operates apart from city politics, which can be divisive in Eureka Springs.
Events are scheduled throughout the year to bring attention to the library. There’s a cost to attend two tea parties and an event honoring the poet Robert Burns, but those events are sponsored by other organizations, not the library itself.
“The library is not trying to raise money with this celebration,” said Garrett. “They’re actually trying to give back to the community.”
The celebration will begin on Jan. 11 with the Eureka Springs City Council passes a proclamation denoting 2010 as the “Year of the Carnegie Public Library.”A CENTURY OF BOOKS
Centennial events for the Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library will be held throughout 2010. The events, which are open to the public, will be posted throughout the year on the library’s Web site at www.eurekalibrary.org.
Major events include:
“It Started With a Building” Ethel Goodstein-Murphy, associate dean and professor at the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture, will speak on Carnegie libraries, 1 p.m. Feb.21 at the library.
The library’s birthday party, 3-6 p.m. June 13 at the library. It will feature food, music and games.
Friends Victorian Tea, 2-4 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Victorian Room in the Eureka Inn.There’s no charge to attend this tea.
The Silver Tea, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Crescent Hotel. The Episcopal Churchwomen of St. James serve tea, cookies and sandwiches to benefit the library. Donations are requested.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/28/2009