The Carnegie Library Heritage Center exists to preserve and celebrate the powerful legacy of Savannah’s historic Carnegie Library. Through museum-quality exhibits, oral history recordings, and interactive displays, we honor the library’s role as a beacon of knowledge and community empowerment for Black Savannahians during segregation and beyond. Our mission is to uplift these stories, connect generations, and ensure that our shared history continues to inspire the future.
Below is a comparison to help explain how a circulating library differs from a special collections library like the Carnegie Library Heritage Center.
Example: Southwest Chatham Library
Example: Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History
(Atlanta, GA)
The Carnegie Library Heritage Center is designed as a special collections library—focused on preservation, discovery, and learning on-site.
Interested in the renovation and restoration work behind the Heritage Center?
Explore the Carnegie Library Capital ProjectThe reimagined Carnegie Library will protect and preserve its history, as well as the past and future stories of African American Savannahians. The video below shares stories from the local citizens for whom the Library is an important personal historical touchpoint.
Renovating and reimagining the Carnegie Library was a labor of love and commitment to its legacy as a center of culture and learning for the African American community that co-funded its opening in 1914. The video below provides more information about how this project was conceived and completed.
Click to enlarge the images.
