How Andrew Carnegie Turned His Fortune into a Library Legacy

By Susan Stamberg

How Andrew Carnegie Turned His Fortune into a Library Legacy

By Susan Stamberg

Andrew Carnegie was once the richest man in the world. Coming as a dirt poor1dirt poor〈俚〉極貧困的。kid from Scotland to the U.S., by the 1880s he’d built an empire in steel—and then gave it all away: $60 million to fund a system of 1,689 public libraries across the country.

[2] Carnegie donated $300,000 to build Washington, D.C.’s oldest library—a beautiful beaux arts building2學院派建筑。Beaux Arts一詞源自法語，意指藝術作品，如今用之命名一種藝術風格：學院派藝術（又稱布雜藝術）。該風格源自巴黎高等藝術學院（école des Beaux-Arts）在課堂上教授學生的理念，1885至1920年期間發展并繁榮。塔形建筑群、裝飾性壁柱、欄桿、帶窗的陽臺等都是學院派建筑的特色所在。紐約市公共圖書館（New York Public Library）、紐約中央車站（New York’s Grand Central Terminal）以及波士頓公共圖書館（Boston Public Library）等，都是典型的學院派建筑。此處所說的圖書館指華盛頓特區的卡內基圖書館，據2016年12月的新聞報道，蘋果公司準備租賃該樓，建成一個蘋果零售店。that dates back to3date back to追溯至。1903. Inscribed above the doorway are the words: Science, Poetry, History. The building was “dedicated to the diffusion4diffusion擴散，傳播。of knowledge.”

安德魯·卡內基一度是世界上最富有的人。他本是從蘇格蘭移民美國的一個窮小子，到19世紀80年代便建立起自己的鋼鐵王國——但后來又把財富全部捐出：6000萬美元建立了1689所公共圖書館，形成覆蓋全美的公共圖書館體系。

[2]卡內基捐贈30萬美元，修建起華盛頓特區最早的圖書館——一棟非常漂亮的學院派風格建筑，歷史可以追溯到1903年。正門上方銘刻著“科學、詩歌、歷史”的字樣。整座建筑“專用于知識的傳播”。

[3] It opened in 1903 to women, children, all races—African-Americans remember when it was the only place downtown where they could use the bathrooms. During the Depression5又稱the Great Depression經濟大蕭條，1929年始于美國股市崩潰，隨后席卷全球，一直持續到30年代晚期，是20世紀持續時間最長、影響最為廣泛深遠的一次經濟大蕭條。, D.C.’s Carnegie Library was called “the intellectual breadline6breadline指排隊等待領取救濟食品的隊伍。on the breadline形容極度貧困的狀態。.” No one had any money, so you went there to feed your brain. Washington writer Paul Dickson, author of The Library in America, says the marble palace was an early and imposing Capitol7Capitol= Capitol Hill國會山。它是華盛頓特區的一座山丘，因其山頂有美國國會大廈而常被當作美國國會的別名。卡內基圖書館位于國會山地區，具體位于弗農山（Mt. Vernon）廣場附近，與華盛頓會議中心（Walter E. Washington Convention Center）隔廣場相望。institution.

“This went in well8well此處是副詞，用于介詞短語前表示強調，意為“大大地，遠遠地”。before the monumental limestone and marble buildings of Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Avenue9賓夕法尼亞街和憲法街是國會山地區的兩條街道，有一些重要的歷史建筑，如賓夕法尼亞街上的白宮、福特中心等，憲法街的史密斯博物館、美國國家藝術博物館等。. This was one of the first really beautiful public buildings,” he says.

[3]該圖書館于1903年開始運營，向婦女、兒童和所有種族的人敞開大門——黑人們回憶，在當時的市中心，他們唯一獲準使用其中廁所的建筑便是這個圖書館。大蕭條期間，華盛頓特區的卡內基圖書館被稱為“施舍知識的救濟堂”。大家都沒錢，所以盡管去卡內基圖書館，給大腦補充營養。華盛頓作家、《美國圖書館》一書的作者保羅·迪克森聲稱，這座大理石殿堂是國會山一帶修建較早的一座建筑，令人印象深刻。

“它比賓夕法尼亞街和憲法街那些氣勢恢宏的石灰巖和大理石建筑早多了。它屬于最早一批修建起來的真正壯觀的公共建筑。”他說。

[4] Carnegie libraries are still the best buildings in many towns. Over the years some have been expanded or torn down. And, in addition to books and computers, Carnegie libraries find new ways to serve the community.

[5] The public library in Woodbine, Iowa, loans cake pans — people don’t keep all sizes and shapes of cake pans at home, “so they check ’em out and bake their cakes and bring ’em back,”explains Woodbine library director Rita Bantam. “[It’s] offering a service that people need. It brings people into the library.”

[6] Andrew Carnegie gave $7,500 to Woodbine. That paid for the building itself. The towns had to raise money for books, salaries and maintenance. Before Carnegie, Bantam says, the library was located in an unusual section of Woodbine’s town hall: “It was over the jail,” she explains, “they had to close the library when the jail was occupied.”

[7] From jail to cakepans, public libraries are embedded10embed使插入。in their communities. In South Carolina, the Union County Carnegie Library—named best small library in America a few years back—invites Ronald McDonald11麥當勞叔叔是身穿黃色小丑衣的一個人物形象，是麥當勞快餐連鎖店的招牌吉祥物和企業形象代言人，羅納德·麥當勞是其官方名稱。over to lure kids into summer reading programs. Director Ben Loftis says there were subscription12subscription（俱樂部的）會員費。libraries in South Carolina before 1903 when his was built—with a $10,000 Carnegie grant—but this was the first public library.

[4]在許多城鎮，卡內基圖書館都仍是當地最好的建筑。隨著時間的流逝，有些圖書館擴建了，有些則被拆除了。除了書籍和電腦，卡內基圖書館還找到了新的途徑來服務社區。

[5]艾奧瓦州伍德拜恩市的卡內基公共圖書館出借蛋糕模具，因為普通人家里通常不會買齊所有規格和形狀的蛋糕模具，“所以人們可以來借模具，烤完蛋糕之后再還回來。”伍德拜恩圖書館主管麗塔·班塔姆解釋說，“這種服務是人們需要的。它會把人們聚到圖書館里來。”

[6]安德魯·卡內基捐給伍德拜恩7500美元。這筆錢用于建造圖書館大樓。伍德拜恩當地市政得籌資購買書籍，支付工作人員工資，并負責圖書館維護。據班塔姆介紹，在卡內基出資之前，該市的圖書館坐落在伍德拜恩市鎮廳一個意想不到的角落：“和監獄在一處，”她解釋說，“如果監獄來了犯人，圖書館就得關閉。”

[7]從監獄到蛋糕模具，公共圖書館深深融入了當地社區。在南卡羅來納州，尤寧縣的卡內基圖書館幾年前曾榮獲全美最佳小型圖書館的稱號。該圖書館邀請麥當勞叔叔來到圖書館，以吸引孩子們參加暑期閱讀計劃。主管本·洛夫蒂斯聲稱，在卡內基捐款1萬美元于1903年建成該圖書館之前，南卡羅來納有一些收費的會員制圖書館，而該館是第一座公共圖書館。

“It went from being for just the wealthy elite landowners and planters to actually being a service for the entire county that everybody has access to,”he says.

[8] It was pioneering—public and free. Those were the visionary keystones of Carnegie’s library mission. The mission was born in Allegheny City, Pa., where Carnegie worked as a bobbin boy in a textile mill—his job was to fill the bobbins with thread and oil them for the machines. He was determined to improve his lot13lot際遇，境況，命運。, but he couldn’t pay the $2 subscription for a local library that was available only to apprentices (and he certainly couldn’t afford to buy books).

[9] He sent a letter to the library administrator asking for access to the library, but the administrator turned him down flat. So 17-year-old Andy got the letter published in The Pittsburgh Dispatch.

“以前那些只面向農場主、種植園主等有錢精英階層，這個則是真正面向全縣公眾的，每個人都能來。”他說道。

[8]這一點頗具開創性：既面向公眾又不收取費用。卡內基圖書館的使命，其前瞻性意義便在于此。這一使命早在卡內基于賓夕法尼亞州阿勒格尼市做工期間便已萌芽。當時，他在一家棉紡廠當繞線工——把繩子纏到線軸上，并給線軸上油，為上機器做準備。他不甘于此，決心要改變命運，卻付不起2美元的會員費，無法進入當地一家只向學徒開放的圖書館（當然，他更買不起書）。

[9]他給圖書館館長寫了一封信，請求允許他進入圖書館，卻被斷然拒絕。于是，17歲的卡內基便設法將他的信發表在《匹茲堡快報》上。

“He made his case so well that the administrator backed off immediately,”explains Carnegie biographer David Nasaw. “And the library was opened to working men as well as apprentices. He got what he wanted.”

[10] He usually did. Quick, smart and self-educated, “the little Scotsman from Pittsburgh” went from bobbins to telegraphs to railroads to iron and steel. In 1901, when he sold Carnegie Steel to J.P. Morgan for almost half a billion dollars, it became part of U.S. Steel—and Carnegie became the world’s richest man. And then he gave it away: a total of $350 million.

[11] Was he the Bill Gates of his day?“I think Bill Gates would very much like to be known as the Carnegie of his day,” says Nasaw.

[12] In 1889 Carnegie wrote an article called “The Gospel of Wealth,”in which he spelled out his views on philanthropy: “In bestowing charity the main consideration should be to help those who help themselves.”

[13] The rich should give, so the poor could improve their own lives—and thus the lives of the society. Giving was a code of honor. “The man who dies rich dies in disgrace,” Carnegie said.

[14] Nasaw says the steel master was in his 30s when he decided he was merely the shepherd of his wealth.

“他的要求提得太合情合理了，館長只得立即收回成命了。”卡內基的傳記作家戴維·納沙解釋說，“圖書館不僅向學徒開放，也向工人開放了。他得遂所愿。”

[10]他通常都能得遂所愿。“這個來自匹茲堡的小個子蘇格蘭人”靈敏聰慧，自學成才，從線軸到電報，再到鐵路和鋼鐵行業。1901年，他以將近5億美元的價格將卡內基鋼鐵公司出售給J.P.摩根，卡內基鋼鐵公司成為美國鋼鐵公司的一部分，而卡內基則成為世界上最有錢的人。但后來他便將錢捐了出去，總額高達3.5億美元。

[11]他是他那個時代的比爾·蓋茨嗎？“我倒覺得比爾·蓋茨會很愿意別人稱他為這個時代的卡內基。”納莎說道。

[12] 1889年，卡內基寫了一篇題為“財富的福音”的文章，闡明了他對慈善事業的看法：“在決定慈善捐贈的時候，主要的考慮應該是幫助那些自助的人。”

[13]富人應該給予，以便窮人能夠改善自己的生活——并從而提高全社會的生活質量。給予是榮譽的準則。“一個有錢人如果到死還是很有錢，那就是一件可恥的事情。”卡內基說。

“It is his responsibility to give it back,” Nasaw says, “to return it to the community because the community—all of those men and women who contribute to the making of Carnegie steel, the mothers who feed their children, the day laborers, the whole large community—is responsible for making this wealth and they’re the ones who have to get it back.”

[15] So public libraries became instruments of change—not luxuries, but rather necessities, important institutions—as vital to the community as police and fire stations and public schools.

[16] Now, Carnegie was a complicated man. Brilliant, charming, generous—and brutal. Carnegie biographer Les Standiford, author of Meet You in Hell, says the industrialist presided over what is considered this country’s most bitter labor dispute.

[17] “The Homestead Steel Strike of 1892141892年，美國霍姆斯達特地區的卡內基鋼鐵廠總經理亨利·弗里克向工人宣布降低工資的決定，遭工人和工會的反對，引發工人大罷工。罷工遭到保安公司和州民兵的開槍鎮壓，十多名工人喪生。事后，卡內基百般撇清自己在罷工事件中的責任，但多年后隨著卡內基的私人信件向公眾開放，研究人員方才知道弗里克的自行裁量權由卡內基授予，采取一切必要手段打擊工會也在授權范圍內。所以文中使用了conspire一詞，意為“密謀，陰謀策劃”。—in which he and Henry Clay Frick conspired to mercilessly beat down the steelworkers who were striking for better pay and better working conditions. It stands to this day as the worst labor conflict in American history,” Standiford says.

[14]納莎聲稱，這位鋼鐵巨頭早在其三十多歲時便做出決定，他只是財富的看管人。

“將財富捐贈出去，回饋社會，這是他的責任，”納莎說，“因為社會才是這些財富的真正制造者——那些鍛造了卡內基鋼鐵公司的男男女女，那些哺育孩子的母親，那些臨時工，一整個大的社區——他們才是必須要得到財富的人。”

[15]因此，公共圖書館成為變革的契機——它們不是奢侈品，而更是必需品，是重要的機構，就和警察局、消防隊、公立小學一樣是社區的關鍵組成部分。

[16]如今看來，卡內基是一個難以一言蔽之的復雜人物。他既聰明、有魅力、慷慨大方，但又十分殘酷無情。據卡內基的傳記作家來斯·斯坦迪福（《地獄里見：安德魯·卡內基傳》的作者）所云，美國最為慘烈的一次勞資糾紛事件就發生在這位工業巨頭當權時期。

[17]“1892年，美國霍姆斯達特地區的鋼鐵工人罷工。鋼鐵工人要求提高工資，改善工作條件，但卡內基與時任該地區卡內基鋼鐵廠總經理亨利·克雷·弗里克秘密商議，無情地鎮壓罷工的工人。直到今天，它仍是美國歷史上最糟糕的勞資沖突。”斯坦迪福說道。

[18] “Increase our wages,” the workers demanded. “What good is a book to a man who works 12 hours a day, six days a week?”

[19] Nasaw says Carnegie thought he knew better and replied to his critics this way: “If I had raised your wages, you would have spent that money by buying a better cut of meat or more drink for your dinner. But what you needed, though you didn’t know it, was my libraries and concert halls. And that’s what I’m giving to you.”

[20] And so he did: 1,689 public libraries. Temples of learning, ambition, aspiration for towns and cities throughout the United States. ■

[18]“給我們漲工資。”工人們提出要求，“對一個每天工作12個小時、每周工作6天的人來說，書有什么用？”

[19]納莎說，卡內基認為自己更有眼光，他這么回應他的批評者：“假如我提高了你們的工資，你們就會把錢用來買一塊更好的肉或者更多的酒。但是你們真正需要的，雖然你們自己并沒有意識到，是我的圖書館和音樂廳，而那正是我將贈予你們的。”

[20]他的確這么做了：共計1689座公共圖書館——坐落在美國大大小小的城鎮中，成為知識、雄心和理想的殿堂。□

圖書館：鋼鐵大王卡內基的遺產

文/蘇珊·施坦貝格 譯/陳麗

（譯者單位：北京外國語大學）