List of Carnegie libraries in Tennessee
The following list of Carnegie libraries in Tennessee provides detailed information on United States Carnegie libraries in Tennessee, where 12 free public libraries were built from nine grants awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1900 to 1917. In addition, a public library was constructed at a federally owned veteran's hospital, and seven academic libraries were built at academic institutions. Tennesseans rejected several proposed Carnegie libraries, including one in 1889 at Johnson City, his first library offer in the U.S. outside Pennsylvania. Other towns that rejected Carnegie libraries included Cleveland, Columbia, Franklin, and Chattanooga. For various reasons, Carnegie also refused requests for libraries at Sparta, Knoxville, Clarksville, Martin, and Maryville College. Nevertheless, by 1919, Carnegie built twenty library building in Tennessee, including more academic and African-American libraries than any other southern state. Moreover, Carnegie authorized the single largest grant for an academic library on an American university campus in Tennessee. In total, Tennessee ranked fourth in the South in the total number of Carnegie libraries, lagging behind only Texas, Georgia, and Kentucky.
Tennessee's twenty Carnegie libraries were groundbreaking civic spaces, whether located in small towns, large cities, or university campuses. Designed by professional architects, these public facilities were intended to be more than book halls and reading rooms; rather, Tennesseans wanted their Carnegie libraries to serve as community centers, even as "Universities of the People," where men, women, and children of all races and classes could be enlightened, educated, or entertained. Carnegie's free library program was a crucial component of the southern Progressives' mantra that good roads, good schools, and good libraries would build a better New South.
Key
Public libraries
| Library | City or town | Image | Date granted | Grant amount | Location | Notes | |
| 1 | Brownsville Carnegie Library | Brownsville | $7,500 | 121 W. Main St. | Built 1910–1912; open 1912–2002, now Chamber of Commerce; possibly designed by Neander M. Woods Jr., Memphis; rehabbed 1993 Listed on National Register of Historic Places in 2018. | ||
| 2 | Old Library Building | Chattanooga | $50,000 | 200 E. 8th St. | Built 1903–1905; open 1905–1940, rehabbed late 1960s for private offices; listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1973; designed by Reuben H. Hunt, Chattanooga, TN | ||
| 3 | Etowah | Etowah | $8,000 | 723-725 Ohio Ave. | Built 1915–1916; still functions as a library; also serves as Etowah's city hall; designed by unnamed local architect/engineer/draftsman; listed on National Register of Historic Places, 2003 | ||
| 4 | Greeneville | Greeneville | $10,000 | 109 West Summer St. | Built 1914–1915; closed 1970s; listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1974; designed by Aaron T. Simmons, Bloomington, IL; also women's rest room until 1975; National Guard headquarters late 1970s; vacant | ||
| 5 | Harriman | Harriman | $10,000 | 601 Walden St. | Built 1909–1910; still in use as a public library; listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1989; designed by Paul O. Moratz, Bloomington, IL | ||
| 6 | Jackson | Jackson | $30,000 | 305 E. College St. | Built 1901–1903; closed 1968, rehabbed 1981 as an art and history center; listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1975; designed by Anthony Ten Eyck Brown and Frederick H. Brown, Nashville | ||
| 7 | Johnson City | Johnson City | $16,000 | Built 1902–1904, part of Mountain Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers; now a lecture hall; National Historic Landmark; designed by Joseph H. Freeland, NYC; rehabbed 1998 | |||
| 8 | Knoxville | Knoxville | $10,000 | Built 1916–1918; Free Colored Carnegie Branch, demolished 1965; designed by Albert B. Baumann, Knoxville; closed 1965 | |||
| 9 | Nashville Main | Nashville | $100,000 | 222 8th Ave. N. | Built 1904; demolished 1963; designed by Albert Randolph Ross, NYC, with Thompson, Gibel & Asmus, Nashville ; integrated 1949–1954; closed 1963 and replaced with Ben West Library 1963-1965 | ||
| 10 | Nashville Carnegie | Nashville | January 31, 1912 | $25,000 | 1001 Monroe St. | Built 1913–1915, still in use as a public library; part of the Buena Vista Historic District, 1980; designed by Clarence K. Colley, Nashville; rehabbed 1981–1983; designated Local Landmark | |
| 11 | Nashville East | Nashville | January 31, 1912 | $25,000 | 206 Gallatin Ave. | Built 1917–1919, still in use as a public library; listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1982; designed by Clarence K. Colley, Nashville; restored 1998–2000; designated Local Landmark | |
| 12 | Nashville Negro Branch | Nashville | January 31, 1912 | $25,000 | 220 12th Ave. N. | Built 1916–1918; closed 1949, demolished ca.1969; designed by Clarence K. Colley and Robert Sharp, Nashville | |
| 13 | Union City | Union City | $10,000 | Built 1910; demolished by WPA, 1938; designed by Henry D. Whitfield, NYC |