Eugene accepted the gift of a library building from Andrew Carnegie in 1904 — and Lane County is still dealing with the repercussions.
One problem with Carnegie’s generosity became apparent as soon as the building opened. The library was supposed to be free for everybody, but because it was owned by the city of Eugene, only taxpaying citizens of Eugene could check out books for free.
That same year the Oregon State Library declared that only counties, not cities, should be building libraries. As a result of this ruling, Portland, for example, does not have a Portland City Library, but rather a Multnomah County Library. Nationwide, Lane County is one of the few counties that does not offer a countywide library card.
An even bigger problem with Carnegie’s gift became obvious later: Libraries are expensive to operate. In fact, it’s estimated that the cost of building a library is less than the cost of running it for six years…