On September 25, 1900 the Mechanics Institute was full to overflowing. The event was the presentation of the Freedom of the Borough of Keighley to Andrew Carnegie and the distribution of prizes to the students of the Institute by Mrs Carnegie.

This honour was being conferred on Carnegie for his donation of £10,000 'for the erection of a free library in Keighley.'

The Keighley Yearbook of 1901 tells us 'The offer came through Sir Swire Smith, and in the letter which he wrote, Mr Carnegie said: "Keighley being a community which has shown that it helps itself, is worthy of the help of others."'

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline in 1835 and emigrated with his family to Pennsylvania in 1848. He made a vast fortune in steel and when he finally retired in 1901 he was worth $300,000 million.

He had already started giving money away - in 1881 he gave his hometown of Dunfermline money to build a library having previously financed the public baths.

He donated money for the building provided that local councils promised sites and maintenance. The 1850 Public Libraries Act already allowed councils to set a halfpenny rate for their provision.

Keighley library, opened in 1904, was the first Carnegie library in England and by the time he died Carnegie had given 2,811 libraries, 660 of which were in Britain and Ireland.

The Carnegies and 200 guests were invited to a 'sumptuous banquet' in the Mechanic's Institute museum room by the Lord and Lady Mayoress, Mr and Mrs H C Longsdon, and Mr John Brigg, President of the Mechanic's Institute, before the public events in the main hall.

The event itself was a magnificent affair. The only seats available in the hall were those reserved for the guests of honour, the recipients of the prizes and the members of the Clarion Vocal Union who entertained with glees and part-songs.

The Stars and Stripes were hung in honour of the adopted nationality of Andrew Carnegie and the platform was 'smothered by a graceful and lavish display of flowers and ferns'.

The Keighley News reported: "The proceedings formally commenced by the singing of a verse of the British National Anthem, supplemented by a verse of the American National Anthem, of the same metre and to the same tune.

"Then was witnessed the peculiar, perhaps unique, feature of the ceremony - the holding of a special and duly summoned meeting of the Town Council, the members of which clustered round the chair of the Mayor, who, of course, presided. Mr W A Brigg, Acting Town Clerk, arrayed in proper robes, began with the formalities.

"Then Mr Longsdon rehearsed the circumstances under which Mr Carnegie's gift to the town had been made, and moved the resolution conferring the freedom of the borough upon him. The Deputy Mayor (Alderman Brigg) seconded the resolution. He dwelt specially upon the appropriateness and timeliness of the gift.

"For a generation, he said, the question of a free library had been before them, but had been thrust aside by other exigencies-buried in our main sewers and lost in the expanse of our new streets.

"Mr Carnegie had stepped in at the very nick of time and enabled them to carry out the long deferred project. Since then there had been no difficulty except as to the expense of the site. Whilst hesitating as to the cost of the one now selected, their hesitation had been removed by the remark made by one member of the committee that the site chosen would not be too dear for a public house.

"That practically settled the matter. If the site were not too dear a place in which to sell liquor, it would hardly be too dear for a free library. The resolution having been carried by the members of the Council, the freedom of the borough was handed in an ornamental casket to Mr Carnegie, who signed the burgess roll and made the requisite declaration."

The paper described Andrew Carnegie as "an alert little man, who gives one the impression of being 'all there'.

"His square head is surrounded by white hair and whiskers. His face is keen, with a sense of subdued humour."

In his speech he complimented Keighley on its enterprise and thoroughness and said that, even without his help, they would eventually have provided a free library.

His speech was not without controversy but also "bristled with good telling points and phrases of apothegmatical terseness (a phrase often used by modern journalist!) relie-ved by many touches of humour."

As this was the end of the first part of the ceremony the mace was removed and the Mayor vacated the chair to be replaced by John Brigg, president of the Mechanic's Institute, who introduced Sir Swire Smith to give details of the work of the Institute. Mrs Carnegie then presented the prizes.

The library was opened on August 20, 1904 by the Duke of Devonshire.