Carnegie believed that there was an accumulation of wealth in a few individuals which was inevitable in a capitalistic society. However, this wealth was necessary for the upholding of democracy and for society to be prosperous. He also believed that those who had the wealth were to give away their fortune to benefit society before they died. They should be given to charities which created the opportunity for anyone with the right characteristics to be successful.

Andrew Carnegie believing this, gave away 333 million dollars to various activities which promoted higher education and churches. However, Carnegie is known for his contributions to libraries. He gave money to build 2,509 libraries in the British Isles, Australia, and New Zealand. 1,679 of the libraries were built in the United States and $55 million was spent on libraries alone. Andrew Carnegie is often called the "Patron Saint of Libraries". His main reasons for donating to libraries was that anyone with the desire to educate himself would be able to and also immigrants like him would be able to acquire cultural knowledge of America in the libraries.

Many contemporaries found a third reason for Carnegie to give away his fortune was that he was an egotist who liked the attention that giving away his money gave him. He also enjoyed that there were thousands of buildings which were named after him. However, egotist or no egotist, Andrew Carnegie did give away 90% of his fortune. 
Regardless of why Carnegie did what he did, his establishment of thousands of public libraries is the most important event in the history of American libraries. These Carnegie Libraries to this day have benefited in the education of millions of people.

Andrew Carnegie died on August 11, 1919 in Lenox, Massachusetts.