In the 2022 board game inspired by the career of Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), players seek to build their own businesses in real estate, transportation, and manufacturing, imitating the conditions under which Carnegie was able to become one of the richest men in the world. However, this board game offers players the path to pursue only Carnegie's business ventures, and not the real source of his lasting fame: his philanthropy, inspired by his belief that the wealthy bear a responsibility to use their riches to improve the lives of others. In his 1889 book The Gospel of Wealth, he summed up his philosophy in writing that "the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced." Carnegie established charitable foundations and stewarded the endowment of nearly 2,500 free public libraries known as Carnegie libraries.

In this session, we will play the board game Carnegie while pondering the contradictions of Andrew Carnegie's life and writings, the role of philanthropy in business and business in philanthropy, and the library as public institution.

Tabletop Tuesdays is an event series held on the third Tuesday of each month. At these events, we feature a selection of board games and collection items from across SUL's holdings around a specific theme. Drop in to learn about the month's featured game(s) and/or try some of the board games we have for open play at the Silicon Valley Archives.