KEIGHLEY’S library and School of Art are spotlighted in the latest edition of a historic publication.

Both feature in the 79th instalment of The Bradford Antiquary.

The journal is published annually by the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society, formed in 1878 to promote the district’s history.

It describes how Keighley’s public library, in North Street, was founded thanks to the generosity of Andrew Carnegie.

The library was the first in the country to be funded by the multi-millionaire.

An outline is given as to how the Scottish emigrant to America became one of the richest men in the USA , and what led him to bringing about improvements to a small town like Keighley.

Carnegie’s involvement with the town was sparked by a chance meeting on a trans-Atlantic crossing from New York with Sir Swire Smith, a committee member of the Mechanics’ Institute in Keighley.

Such institutes had been formed to encourage greater access to books and learning for ordinary workers.

Thanks to a generous donation from Carnegie, the library was opened on Saturday, August 20, 1904.

Eventually, 660 Carnegie libraries were built in Britain and Ireland, and more than 1,600 in America.

Authors of the article, Gina Birdsall and Angela Speight, say: “Hopefully – if Andrew Carnegie and Sir Swire Smith were to visit today – they would be more than happy that their jewel within Keighley town centre continues to fulfil its original remit.”

Gina also explores the beginnings of Keighley’s School of Art.

She said its origins could be directly linked to the formation of a Mechanics’ Institute in 1825 and the influence of the first Great Exhibition in 1851, when a weakness was revealed in the area of technical drawing and design.

By 1928, the School of Art and Crafts had 345 students. There were also pupils from the Keighley Boys’ and Girls’ grammar schools receiving art instruction there, plus 40 pupils from elementary schools within the borough.

But by the 1950s, the number of students attracted to careers in the arts was falling, and the Ministry of Education decided to co-ordinate art tuition on a regional basis.

In 1956, the school was merged with Keighley Technical College, becoming its art department.

Other articles in the journal cover subjects ranging from prehistoric rock art to a 1918-19 flu pandemic in Bradford.

The editor, Dr David Pendleton, welcomes ideas and submissions for publication. E-mail davidpendleton@gmail.com.

Copies of the journal can be obtained from Dr Pendleton, at 12 Wrose View, Wrose, Shipley BD18 1AD.

The cost is £7, plus £2 postage and packing.

Cheques should be made payable to Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society.