Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
San Luis Obispo, CA -- Mission Plaza

Thank Andrew Carnegie

Share why you continue to love your Public Libraries today. Adults and children are invited to participate in a non-competitive writing challenge. Selected essays will be read at the Festival. See the press release for more information and submission details.

The San Luis Obispo County Historical Museum Building which will be the site for Readings, Question and Answer sessions and workshops is the former Carnegie Library Building, built in 1904/05. The building served as the public library for the City of San Luis Obispo until 1955, when a new library was built at the corner of Palm and Morro Streets.

Funds for the construction of the Carnegie Library building were provided by a grant of $10,000 from steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, who funded the establishment of some 3,000 libraries worldwide. The Museum building was designed by W.H. Weeks, an architect from Watsonville, California, and was built by the construction firm of Stephens and Maino of San Luis Obispo. The structure's sandstone was brought from Los Berros, near Arroyo Grande. The granite in the building was quarried from nearby Bishop's Peak and brought into the city on a spur of the narrow gauge Pacific Coast Railway. The Museum is the only building in San Luis Obispo County built with both of these local stones.