I might have overstated how common it was, after a bit of Googling. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/04/09/andrew-carnegie-built-1700-pub

I might have overstated how common it was, after a bit of Googling. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/04/09/andrew-carnegie-built-1700-public-libraries-but-some-towns-refused-the-steel-barons-money/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/04/09... https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=muir-symposium https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art...