Governance of
The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning

MISSION

The mission of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning is to create and support programs that foster literacy and learning as a lifelong process for all citizens.

GOALS

1. To provide programs that encourage community members to become active, critical, and creative learners;
2. To provide programs that promote reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, visual representation, and technology skills;
3. To provide opportunities for learners at all levels, along a continuum ranging from beginning to more advanced competencies;
4. To partner with media, businesses, schools, civic and other organizations to enhance community literacy; and
5. To gather information concerning literacy and learning and to make that information available to the public.

DESCRIPTION

The Carnegie Center stands as a true center of learning for people of all ages and backgrounds and represents the entire spectrum of literacy and learning—from beginning to master learners.  The Carnegie Center provides:

• Workshops (writing, computers, foreign languages, youth and family interests, and special interests)
• Groups (Brown Bag Book Groups, Seniors Writing Group, Family Literacy Committee, etc.)
• Writer Mentoring; a part-time in-house writing mentor has been on staff since the center opened.
• Tutoring for children 6-16 in math, reading, etc.
• Camp Carnegie for middle school students in the summer
• Bluegrass Writing Project camps for middle school kids in the summer
• Special events for kids and families
• Family Fun and Learning Night
• MLK Day “I have a dream for my community” elementary reading
• Ready, Set, Study
• Author-related events such as New Books by Great Writers series, other reading/signing/workshop events (This former library building once housed books, but now the building often houses the writers)
• Visual arts exhibits in the Laurie S. Bottoms Gallery--a stop on LACC’s Gallery Hop
• Concerts, conferences (such as our Health Literacy Conference), etc.

The Carnegie Center has been involved with the Kentucky Women Writer’s Conference since it was established and is involved with Mayfest in Gratz Park. The center collaborates with multiple other literary groups/events, area businesses and organizations, authors, and others for a variety of programming. 

The Carnegie Center is the Americorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) Leader Project Sponsor for Lexington and supervises VISTAs in 15 other non-profit organizations. There are several projects and scholarships geared toward minorities and low income families so that a diverse group of people can participate in the learning experiences available through our organization. 

Due to the dynamic, innovative mix of arts and education for beginning to master learners, the Carnegie Center is considered to be a unique, one-of-a-kind organization, nationwide. 

The Carnegie Center was originally developed as a satellite agency of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in 1992, but in 2003 the new mayor proposed city budget cuts that would eliminate Carnegie Center funding.  An agreement was forged by William S. Farish, the public library, and the city to jointly continue funding through July 2008 while the Carnegie Center became more self-sufficient, seeking funding through other resources such as grants, contributions, and other means. 

Other info

In a letter to the editor in the Lexington Herald-Leader 5/7/03:

• Theresa McCarty Williams quoted Andrew Carnegie as having said we “have a responsibility to create opportunities for all and to increase knowledge.”   

Excerpt from a Lexington Herald-Leader Letter to the Editor:

• 4/28/03 by Jean-Marie Welch: Since the Carnegie Center’s inception, it has been a mecca for the literary community in and around Lexington.

In a Lexington Herald-Leader Letter to the Editor 4/28/03 by Pamela Papka Sexton (now the CC’s Board Chair):

• She said the committee that originally devised the concept for the Carnegie Center felt that “the building’s activities should compliment Andrew Carnegie’s vision, but have a different mission than a library or school.”  She was one of the people on the Mayor’s committee that formed the Carnegie Center.

Quotes from Barbara Bush at the center’s dedication 9/11/1992:

• “The whole world of literacy is in this one, magnificent, old building…Andrew Carnegie would be thrilled to see how Lexington has recycled his fine old library…This center is going to reach out to everyone—families, workers, students, and teachers.  And that’s what communities throughout the nation need to learn to do.”  (Louisville Courier-Journal 9/12/1992)

Barbara Bush called the Carnegie Center “a dream come true—an extraordinary place.” (Lexington Herald-Leader 9/12/1992)

 

The Board of Trustees
Pam Sexton, Chair
Bill Davis, Vice-Chair
Kathy Reynolds, Secretary-Treasurer
Martha Billips
Hart Graves
Phyllis MacAdam
Eileen O'Brien
Mary Shake
William H. Wilson
Merrie Winfrey
James Wyrick
William S. Farish, Honorary Member
Terry Sellars, Counsel

The Advisory Board
Sharon Damron
Kelly Flood
Erica Galyon
Carolyn Hackworth
Earlene Huckleberry
Ruthie Maslin
Lila Rankin