The Morrisania branch of the New York Public Library, financed by Andrew Carnegie and opened in 1908, was renovated in 1997. (Photo: George M. Gutierrez/The New York Times)

At a daylong celebration today, the New York Public Library is observing the centennial of its Morrisania branch in the South Bronx, which opened in 1908 with financing from Andrew Carnegie.

The library, at 610 East 169th Street, sits on what was once farmland owned by Jonas Bronck, for whom the borough is named. The library is now one of 87 in the New York Public Library system, which encompasses the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. (Queens and Brooklyn have separate systems.)

The library received a two-year renovation, completed in 1997, and has served as a symbol of the rebirth of the South Bronx that started in the 1990s, after decades of decay had made the neighborhood the prime example of urban neglect.

The Morris High School Campus Band performed when the library reopened in 1997, and it did so again today, along with children from La Peninsula Head Start, a local child-care business.

In 1901, Carnegie, the industrialist and steel magnate, gave $5.2 million to the New York Public Library, which was established in 1895 by the consolidation of Astor and Lenox libraries and the Tilden trust.

The Morrisania Library, which was designed by the architects Babb, Cook & Willard, is the third in the Bronx to reach the 100-year mark; the Mott Haven branch was the first, and the Tremont branch was the second. The branch has a marble and heavy oak interior, huge arched windows and a grand “imperial” staircase.

Numerous elected officials were scheduled to attend the birthday celebration, including Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr., State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Assemblyman Michael Benjamin, Councilwoman Helen Diane Foster and leaders from Community Board 3.