Apple Rescued D.C.’s Beaux-Arts Carnegie Library

A place built to satisfy a “thirst of the heart for the good, the beautiful and the true” was in need of a new patron

Carnegie Library, D.C. Author photo, 2025.

I’m grateful to Apple Inc. for restoring one of the most beautiful buildings in D.C., the Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square.

I know many people would prefer that there were no corporate influence on this Beaux-Arts gem.

Author photo. “University for the People” logo seen near stairs, small Apple logos on front of building

But the city and local civic groups fell short over the years in maintaining this marble-clad building.

Carnegie Library photo, dated 1980. From Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) at Library of Congress. Smalling, Walter Jr., creator

Of course it would be nice if this 1903 building were still a functioning branch of the District of Columbia’s public library.

Founded in part with a gift from steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), the library building…