Volume I of the History of Winnegago County Wisconsin by Publius V. Lawson (C. F. Cooper & Co., Chicago, 1908, page 474) recounts the story of how Neenah, Wisconsin got its Carnegie Library.
“Robert Shiells [former president of Neenah’s subscription library] still kept up his interest in the work [of the library] and one day in 1904 wrote a letter to Andrew Carnegie suggesting that he furnish the funds for a library building in Neenah. The reply was that a town with so much wealth could well build their own building. Mr. Shiells replied, they were building public improvements, schools and churches, and therefore could with good grace call on Mr. Carnegie to furnish the library. But he still refused. There lives in Washington Mr. William R. Smith, the landscape gardener at the White House for the last fifty-five years. He is a great student of Robert Burns, and of course a Scotchman. He had gathered together a duplicate of the library used by Burns, many of them the very books used by Burns, and as near as possible the same editions. Mr. Andrew Carnegie is a great friend of Mr. Smith, and spends many days each year at his home in Washington. During this correspondence he was at the home of Mr. Smith, and asked him if he knew of a Scotchman out at Neenah, Wisconsin, named Robert Shiells. He said he did not know him personally, but was well acquainted with him by his writing, and thought a great deal of him, and if he ever went west he promised himself to call on Mr. Shiells. Then Mr. Carnegie told of the correspondence. Mr. Smith said, ‘Why, Andy, you made a mistake; give Mr. Shiells his library.’ Then Mr. Carnegie replied, ‘All right, Smith, I will do it.’ One day soon after, a little to his surprise, the letter came to Mr. Shiells offering the city $10,000, provided they would support it with $1,000 per annum. The offer was accepted. The citizens raised $15,000 in addition, of which Theda Clark gave $5,000 and the site where it is at present located. It cost nearly $30,000.”
The Carnegie building was razed to make way for the current Neenah Public Library building. The Friends of the Neenah Library are a Founding Contributor of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center for which we are grateful.