Carnegie Library (Atlanta)

The Carnegie Library (also the Central Library) was the main branch of the Atlanta Public Library (APL) in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Located at the intersection of Forsyth Street and Carnegie Way, the two-story building was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Ackerman & Ross. It was the first public library in Atlanta and was a Carnegie library, built with funds donated by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was demolished in 1977 to make way for Marcel Breuer's Atlanta Central Library, located on the same site.

Plans for a central public library in Atlanta were devised following a $145,000 donation from the businessman Andrew Carnegie. The Carnegie Library building opened on March 4, 1902, as the first building of the APL. The building experienced chronic overcrowding issues from the 1920s onward, and it was expanded southward in 1935. The Carnegie Library building was completely renovated in 1950 and again underwent modifications in 1966. The building was proposed for replacement by the 1960s, and Breuer was hired to devise plans for the new branch, construction of which was delayed. The Carnegie Library building was torn down in 1977 to make way for Breuer's building; parts of the Carnegie structure have been preserved.

The building was two stories high, with a slightly raised basement and a rectangular floor plan. The white marble facade was divided vertically into bays, each flanked by columns; the bays contained windows and carvings. The interiors were arranged around a central corridor and staircase. The basement originally contained the children's room, the first floor was used for reading and deliveries, and the second floor had administrative offices and a lecture room. Four floors of stacks were connected by two book lifts.