The library over there on Henry

Was getting tatted last night and he asked me if I’ve ever been to the library over there on Henry. I was like yeah. Matta fact, I kraked teet bout it in the book and the gram. My favorite library in the city, possibly my favorite local library in the country. The story, man. The story. The history.

So in 1903, the City of Savannah linked up with the Georgia Historical Society to open up a library for white people.

Three years later, 11 black businessmen said 🖕🏽 y’all library and put their money together to build their people one. They ain’t literally say that, just in my imagination they did lol.

They started off SUPER small, in a doctor’s office on the corner of Price and Hartridge. Yup, you’d go to a doctor’s office, which was also black-owned, to borrow 📚 that were donated.

Seven years later, in 1913, they applied for a grant to build the beautiful Carnegie Library we see today. That wasn’t an easy process though. The grant required proof of land ownership and matching funds. So the $12,000 they were approved for, they had to match.

Meanwhile, the white folks’ library was still housed in one room of the Georgia Historical Society. They ain’t have their own building til 1916, so Carnegie was actually Savannah’s first public library. And while white folks banned us from their library til 1963, they sho ain’t mind using ours.

In 2017, Carnegie Library, located on the corner of Henry and East Broad, was recognized as one of Georgia’s top 10 most beautiful libraries. It not only looks good though, it feels good too. Spirit of the ancestors all up and through there.

P.S.: In 2016 and 2017, I taught at Carnegie, which is how/where I met Krak Teet’s (paid) intern and first point of contact, Jayla. See last pic.

P.S.S: #AddieByrdByers desegregated Savannah’s public libraries and was the first black woman to serve on the Chatham-Effingham-Liberty Regional Library Board. She died in 2003 at 93 years old.