The Carnegie Library replaced Neelgharies house, bequethed to the council by Emily Dowling, second wife of George Sparkes. She had required the site to be used to benefit and better the townspeople. The generous philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, provided funds to construct a purpose-built library on the site, provideing a valuable service (libraries were not normally free, and were usually provided by book shops). This survived until the council demolished it in 1969 for a new Central Library (after finding they could not build their own offices there), opened by Prince Charles (now King Charles III) in 1972.
Bromley Gloss (in 2026) writes: Carnegie Public Library; in the Edwardian era it was pride of the town. Demolished in 1969. It had been donated by one of the greatest industrialists and philanthropists of his era, Andrew Carnegie. A significant number of Carnegie library buildings are still standing in Britain today. Many continue to be used for their original purpose, though a number of them have been repurposed, intact. Many that survive have been given listed status which continues to help protect them from short sited demolition as happened in Bromley Town. Of the approx. 660 built, 437 remain standing and are rIghtly deeply cherished by their local communities. Many of the surviving libraries have dedicated “Friends of” groups that raise funds for repairs, host community events, and lobby for the buildings’ preservation. Bromley’s Carneigue Library was not given this chance once conservation-skeptic town planners and developers set their sites on it.
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