Havana Public Library District Receives $10,000 Gift from Carnegie Corporation of New York

HAVANA, IL — The Havana Public Library District is overjoyed to receive a $10,000 gift from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the foundation established by Andrew Carnegie. The award is part of Carnegie Libraries 250, a special initiative celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and honoring the roughly 1,280 Carnegie Libraries still serving their communities across the United States.

Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries nationwide between 1886 and 1917. Approximately 750 of them continue to use their original buildings, while others have moved to new locations. Built in 1901 and opened in 1902, the Havana Public Library is one of 106 Carnegie Libraries in Illinois built through this historic program and is the oldest Carnegie library in Illinois still operating out of its original building.

“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,’” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie and former head of the University of Oxford. “We still believe this and are delighted to celebrate our connection to the libraries he founded.”

The Carnegie Corporation sent this generous gift in January 2026, stipulating that libraries may use the funds however they wish; the Havana Public Library District Board of Trustees has chosen to use the funds to repair the deteriorating masonry on the library’s North wall.

Why can’t my library buy more e-books and audiobooks? e-Book and digital audiobook costs are too high for libraries, and access is limited. 

Print books are owned by the library and can be used for decades until they’re worn out. e-Books and digital audiobooks are licensed, libraries don’t own them. Plus, publishers put limits on how long the content can be used: 1 or 2 years or 26 or 52 checkouts.  

e-Books and audiobooks are free for patrons to use, but not free for libraries to offer. An average e-book costs a library 3.9 times more than what you would pay to buy it on your Kindle. A bar graph showing a substantial increase in library cost for e-books and e-audio compared to consumer costs. 

Let’s see some real-time examples. Library costs reflect single user, 2-year limit agreement. A pricing chart for Never Flinch by Stephen King showing approximately 4 times the cost for the library e-book and audiobook. A pricing chart for Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry showing approximately 3.6 times the cost for the library e-book and 6 times the cost for the library audiobook. 

The cost per circulation of an electronic title is 3.7 times higher than a physical title. 63 cents for a print book. $2.39 for an e-book. Pictograph showing that three people could check out the same print book for less than the cost of a single e-book checkout.

e-Content usage is increasing. In 2024, a mid-size, suburban public library saw a 25% increase in e-book circulation and a 15% increase in audiobook circulation. Radial progress chart displaying 27.2%. Libraries spend nearly one-third of their budget on digital content so their patrons can enjoy these popular titles. 

How does this affect my community? Libraries will reach their budget breaking point. You’ll have limited options. Hold wait lists will get even longer. 

Illinois is known for its leadership in support of libraries, but if publishers continue to control the terms of digital content for libraries, we’ll see an erosion of resource sharing across the state. We will lose one of the best things that makes Illinois stand out in the national library landscape.  

How can I help? Keep borrowing e-content from your local library. The numbers help us advocate for funding. Stay informed and support your library-serving organizations: American Library Association, Illinois Library Association, Reaching Across Illinois Library System.