Rising above the trees of Allegheny Square is the clocktower of America's first
publicly-funded Carnegie Library, the original Allegheny Regional Branch of
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (originally the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny)
which opened in the then-independent City of Allegheny (now Pittsburgh's North Side)
in 1890. After lightning struck the clocktower in 2006, and even though the City
repaired all damages, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh abandoned the original
building and built a new, smaller branch library three blocks north on Federal Street.
The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is now considering reuse of the library building.
(Image Source: Friends of the Zeiss; Photographer: Lynne S. Walsh)
More on the history of the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny:
Link >>> http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/photoalbumAlleghenyReg.htm
By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower
The reuse of library space for programming, rather than to store library materials, was one of the themes mentioned by Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA) Executive Director Marilyn Jenkins, during her annual budget presentation before the Board of Directors of the Allegheny Regional Asset District (ARAD) on August 20. She noted, approvingly, that some libraries were now reusing library space, which once contained book stacks, for programming for teenagers. In her statement, she disparaged older librarians, who she said had a "Great Depression mentality," for their reluctance to discard library materials and reuse the space for programming.
Glenn A. Walsh, former Life Trustee of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, found this statement appalling. Hence, Mr. Walsh delivered the following statement before the Board of Directors of the Allegheny Regional Asset District, at the District's annual public hearing on October 29:
Statement
before the Glenn
A. Walsh
Annual
Hearing of P.O. Box 1041
the
Board of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230-1041 U.S.A.
Directors
of the Telephone: 412-561-7876
Asset
District
Internet Site: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
2013 October 29 Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com >
2013 October 29 Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com >
Good afternoon. I am
Glenn A. Walsh, 633 Royce Avenue, Mt. Lebanon. From 1995 to 2000, I was a Life
Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and
Music Hall in Carnegie,
Pennsylvania, and I author a web site on the History of Andrew Carnegie and
Carnegie Libraries at < www.andrewcarnegie.cc >. Today, I am
speaking as a private citizen representing no organization.
I was quite troubled, during your annual budget hearings, when the
Executive Director of the Allegheny County Library Association spoke
disparagingly about some librarians who she said had a “Great Depression
mentality” regarding their reluctance to discard library materials. I wonder if she has forgotten the primary
purpose of a library is to hold and maintain published materials of interest to
a wide variety of audiences.
When I was a Library Trustee, I sought and received the donation
of several additional book stacks, so our small library did not have to weed as
many materials out of the collection. At the same time, a reference librarian
told me that many older books, magazines, and journals had been discarded from Carnegie
Library’s Allegheny Regional Branch. Are all of these discarded materials now
available on-line or on microfilm in Allegheny County? I doubt it.
As a former Library Trustee, I am fully aware of the space and
financial limitations of public libraries. However, the published information
they have acquired and preserved over years and decades should not be discarded
simply due to lack of space or funding.
I ask that the Allegheny Regional Asset District work with public
libraries, and perhaps even academic libraries, to plan a special repository
for published materials that community libraries can no longer host. Such a
repository should include at least one copy of every published material, in
whatever media is most efficient, if such a material can no longer be retained
at any community library in Allegheny County.
I would be happy to assist with any such plan.
gaw
As an addendum, I would like to recognize and again thank the public libraries which donated book stacks and other materials to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in the late 1990s:
* Mount Lebanon Public Library - Donated surplus book stacks, when their library closed for an expansion project.
* Baldwin Township Public Library - Donated book stacks and books when, regrettably, their library had to close permanently.
* Robinson Township Public Library - When the first attempt to establish a public library in Robinson Township failed, the book stacks and other materials were donated to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, which is patronized by Robinson Township residents. Some years later, the second attempt to establish a public library in Robinson Township was successful.
* Upper Saint Clair Public Library - Donated several brand-new computer carrels, for which their library had no use.
Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.
Related Blog Posts ---
Carnegie Library Bldg. May Be Reused by Children's Museum (2013 Sept. 3):
Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/09/carnegie-library-bldg-may-be-reused-by.html
Buhl Community Park at Allegheny Square Opens (2012 June 25):
Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/06/buhl-community-park-at-allegheny-square.html
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gaw
Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
About the SpaceWatchtower Editor/Author: < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#GAW >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Also see: South Hills Backyard Astronomers Blog: < http://shbastronomers.blogspot.com/ >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.
Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
< http://adlerplanetarium.
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
< http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
< http://www.andrewcarnegie.
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
< http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
< http://inclinedplane.tripod.
* Public Transit:
< http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.
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