A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, once the richest man in the world. Over 2,500 Carnegie libraries were built across the world, between 1883 and 1929. Shortly after the Queens Borough Public Library (now Queens Public Library) was incorporated in 1907, funds totaling $240,000 donated by Andrew Carnegie were used for the construction of seven new libraries in the most heavily populated areas of the borough. Four of these buildings (Astoria, Poppenhusen, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven) are still in use. The New York City Carnegie branch libraries were designed to be distinct structures, a new concept at the turn of the Twentieth Century when most branches were simply located in other buildings. They were intended to be important fixtures in the community and centrally located in a neighborhood.