If you’re a library lover and/or a fan of old Carnegie Libraries, a statewide tour of these grand, classic library buildings has been organized by the Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver. (In fact, the museum is located in a former Carnegie Library building.)

The museum is calling it “Mr. Carnegie’s Grand Tour of Washington.” A recent story in The (Vancouver) Columbian says the tour “is designed as a theme for family road trips and to bring visitor traffic to heritage sites around the state.” 

The 20 Carnegie Library cities that are part of the tour are Anacortes, Auburn, Burlington, Edmonds, Goldendale, Pasco, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Ritzville, Seattle (six sites), Snohomish, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver and Walla Walla.

The Carnegie library sites listed in the statewide tour are participating in the 2009 Carnegie Travel Passport program. Under the program, people are asked to visit as many participating Carnegie library sites in Washington as possible, with three being the minimum. Library tourists can verify each visit with a special consortium stamp in this passport. Afterward, you send your passport to the Clark County Historical Museum (1511 Main St., Vancouver, Wa. 98660-2945) in an envelope. It has to be postmarked by December 31, 2009, to be eligible for a January 15, 2010, gift drawing featuring an assortment of Washington-made products.

The tour is a project of the Carnegie Library Consortium of Washington. For more info, check out the tour Web site here  .