The Traer Public Library pictured in the fall of 2024. TELEGRAPH FILE PHOTO

TRAER – Carnegie Libraries across America, including the Traer Public Library, recently received a $10,000 gift to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence through a special initiative announced last October by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries in the United States between 1886 and 1917. As part of the Carnegie Libraries 250 special initiative, his philanthropic foundation reached out to each library and established that about 1,280 still operate and acknowledge their link to Carnegie, making them eligible for the celebratory gift. The Traer Public Library, located downtown at 531 Second Street, is among the approximately 750 Carnegie Libraries that continue to use their original buildings, while others have moved to new locations.

Gift recipients received a check this past January with instructions to use the funds however they wished to further their mission and benefit their community.

When contacted by the newspaper, Traer Public Library Director Donna DeBoef expressed deep gratitude for the unexpected gift from the Carnegie foundation.

“We wish to extend our sincere appreciation to the Carnegie Foundation for their generous contribution,” DeBoef wrote in an email. “This thoughtful and significant contribution represents not only a meaningful investment in our library but also a profound vote of confidence in our mission and in the care of the spaces where our community gathers.”

DeBoef told the newspaper Carnegie funds would be used, in part, to make much-needed roof repairs to the historical building.

“The gift will be carefully and purposefully directed toward the ongoing maintenance and preservation of our building, ensuring that it remains a safe, functional, and welcoming environment for all who enter. Of particular importance, these funds will be allocated to address the urgent and necessary repairs to the roof, a matter critical to the structural integrity and long-term sustainability of our facility. We are profoundly grateful for this support, which will help safeguard our building for years to come and enable us to continue serving our community without interruption.”

As part of the Carnegie foundation’s October 2025 news release announcing the transformative gifts, Dame Louise Richardson, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and former head of the University of Oxford, said, “Our founder, Andrew Carnegie, who championed the free public library movement of the late 19th century, described libraries as ‘cradles of democracy’ that ‘strengthen the democratic idea, the equality of the citizen, and the royalty of man. We still believe this and are delighted to celebrate our connection to the libraries he founded.”

Carnegie Libraries and their patrons are encouraged to showcase their libraries and gifts by submitting photographs and stories for possible inclusion on carnegielibraries.org, Carnegie’s new website featuring user-generated content. Submissions can be made via the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmlhouOUD1J8VqqU3BXfJzfP2y5CW7hlVqH3U0DY0dxw9B9A/viewform.

The Traer Public Library is one of only 48 public Carnegie library buildings in Iowa (and the only one in Tama County) still being utilized as a library, according to The Carnegie Libraries in Iowa Project (CLIP) website. The initial $8,000 Carnegie grant was made June 11, 1914, with the library opening nearly two years later on Friday, March 31, 1916. Miss Marion Hutt was librarian at the time of the building’s dedication.

The nearby Tama Public Library, according to CLIP, is one of 45 public Carnegie library buildings still in existence in Iowa but no longer used as a library. Tama also received a $10,000 Carnegie gift earlier this year. According to reporting in the Tama-Toledo News Chronicle, the Tama library’s gift will help fund an outdoor electronic message board.