Beyond the beloved status it enjoys in the community, the Roachdale Public Library is a part of American history that is slowly disappearing. It is a among the dwindling ranks of Carnegie Libraries.
Erected in 1913, the Roachdale Public Library is one of 165 Carnegie Libraries built in Indiana, which received more Carnegie grants than any other state in the U.S., followed closely by California which built 142.
Between 1886 and 1919, Andrew Carnegie gave more than $40 million to build 1,679 public libraries throughout the U.S. Though no organization tracks the fate of Carnegie Libraries, a survey found only 909 of the grant-funded libraries were still in use as libraries as of 1990. That number continues to drop as buildings age or communities outgrow the facilities.