The Carnegie Free Library of Barbados was opened on January 26, 1906 in Bridgetown, Barbados. The library was built with a grant of £2500 (approximately $12,150) given by Andrew Carnegie to the city of Bridgetown in 1903 at the request of Governor Frederic Hodgson. It was the first Carnegie Library built outside of Great Britain and North America. The library remained in operation until August 2006 when it was closed due to structural damage and deterioration. Plans to restore the Carnegie Free Library of Barbados have been postponed due to economic and financial issues. Restore the Barbados Public Library has created a Facebook page to generate support for the library's restoration:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Restore-the-Barbados-Public-Library/257288390990399
Sources: Hinds, Beverley. "Historicising the Carnegie Free Library: The Case of Barbados." World Libraries 18.1 (2008):n.pag. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. ; Jordan, Alma Theodora. The Development of Library Service in the West Indies through Interlibrary Cooperation. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1970. 91. Print. ; Hinds, Beverley. "Historical Overview of Public Library Development in the English-Speaking Caribbean." World Library and Information Congress, 77th IFLA General Conference and Assembly. N.p.: IFLA, 2011. 3-6. PDF file. ; Freudenthal, Juan R. "West Indies, Libraries in." Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Vol. 33. Ed. Allen Kent and Jay E. Daily. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1982. 39, 44, 46, 49, 61, 63, 74, 83, 90. Print.
See related posts: Carnegie Free Library of San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago; Suva City Carnegie Library (Suva City, Fiji). ; and Carnegie Free Library of St. Lucia (Castries, St, Lucia).
Update 2/07/2016:
Related post: Carnegie Library Roseau (Roseau, Dominica)
