MOSCOW, ID – Libraries across the country are receiving $10,000 gifts to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, including in Idaho.
The Carnegie Corp. of New York is sending $20 million in gifts to hundreds of Carnegie libraries. Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of nearly 1,700 public libraries between 1886 and 1917. That includes the Moscow library, which opened in 1906.
One hundred twenty years later, said April Hernandez, director of the Latah County Library District, where the Moscow library is located, libraries in the region are providing modern tools for community members.
“Especially in those locations where cellphone service is not the greatest and there’s not a lot of options for WiFi, then I think that’s a really critical thing that we offer,” she said, “but just being able to let people have access to the wider world in those very rural locations, when some of them probably don’t have great transportation.”
Hernandez said the gift to her library district will go toward improving structural issues at the Moscow library. Eight other library locations in Idaho are also receiving $10,000 donations, including the Boise and Idaho Falls public libraries, and Lewiston City Library.
Hernandez said libraries provide crucial resources to communities.
“We have ‘curiosity kits’ and we have a sewing machine; we’re working on a tool library right now,” she said. “So, we provide so much more than people realize – and I think that’s important.”
The donations come at a critical time as libraries across the country face increased pressure from state legislatures, such as through book bans. In 2024, Idaho passed a law requiring public schools and libraries to move material deemed harmful to children to “adults only” sections.
