June 9th 2020
And they did.
I appreciate the actual quote was “Build it and he will come”, spoken by Ray Liotta in the 1989 film Field of Dreams. But it’s often misquoted as above, and it suits my purpose to do so here.
Built in 1906 by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, (more on whom later in this post), Teddington Library was designed by Victorian / Edwardian architect Henry Cheers. "Free libraries" were being built in large numbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often as part of a municipal group and in Baroque style, and Twickenham Library, (covered in Post 90), was also among their numbers.

Teddington Library
In reality libraries were expensive to build, and to stock, and benefactors like Carnegie were key to their success, (though Carnegie funded "only" the building in the majority of cases). Continuing the philanthropic library building scheme which Henry Tate had initiated, many suburban libraries were built with Carnegie funding, with 660 libraries built in England, and 2,509 worldwide between 1883 and 1929.
As for reviews, German-British art and architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, (1902-1983), best known for his 46-volume series of county-by-county guides ‘The Buildings of England’, referred to the design as “jolly Baroque with two scrolly gables”. Julian Orbach described it as “a cheerful little Baroque library”.

Inside
Refurbished in 2008, it reopened in April 2009, and was awarded Grade II listed status in 2011. It continues to function as a public library today, run by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Glass ceiling and historic dome, repaired / restored in 2021
A bit on Andrew Carnegie.
Born in Dunfermline in 1835, he emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1848 at the age of 12. He started work as a telegrapher, and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges, and oil derricks. He accumulated further wealth as a bond salesman, and led the expansion of the American steel industry, including building Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Steel Company which he later sold to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for over $303 million USD, in-so-doing surpassing John D. Rockefeller as the richest American for the next several years.
Carnegie's philanthropy extended to both the United States and the British Empire. During the last 18 years of his life he gave away almost 90% of his fortune - amounting to $350 million USD, (conservatively $65 billion in 2019 money, based on percentage of GDP) - to charities, foundations, and universities. In an article in 1889 titled “The Gospel of Wealth” he called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and stimulated a wave of philanthropy.
The buildings Carnegie funded for use as libraries were a valuable cultural asset, but not without their critics. First secretary of the Iowa Library Commission, Alice S. Taylor, criticized the use of Carnegie funding for extravagant buildings rather than providing quality library services, the library building itself being "all" the Carnegie funding covered, gifting the buildings to cities on the condition that they stocked and maintained them, (there were a few exceptions). There were also critics of his libraries for social and political reasons, some seeing his donations as insulting to communities that would be content to fund their own public works. Others saw his drive for public libraries as an attempt at social control, a way to tame the unruly lower classes. Mark Twain, apparently a supporter of Carnegie, claimed he used philanthropy as a tool to buy fame.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Many of the UK's Carnegie libraries continue to be used for their original purpose today, though they are vulnerable to local authority budget cuts with some unprotected by the listing system. Indeed, over the years some have been demolished.
Must quickly mention that between 1889 and 1891, fifteen or so years prior to the building of either Teddington or Twickenham library, Carnegie built one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical and popular music on the east side of Seventh Avenue, at No. 881 in Midtown Manhattan: a wee place called Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall in New York
He died at the age of 83, in 1919. Post 90 on Twickenham Library has more on the impressive Mr. Carnegie.
From Manhattan back to Teddington, resuming focus on subject matter more in cycling range and in keeping with the "Little Histories" theme of this Blog by way of a few words about the aforementioned architect of Teddington Library.

35 Waldegrave Park in Teddington
Henry Cheers moved from Bagshot to Teddington in 1884, where his success as an architect afforded him the opportunity to design his own house above: a typical Cheers construction of red brick and sandstone, to which he moved in 1892, aged 57. It stands today, and is now a hostel for students at St Mary's University College. Cheers died in 1916, and was buried in Twickenham.

Red arrow: Teddington library
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