Pittsburgh Officials Express Hope of Heading Off Branch Closings

October 27, 2009

Some 250 residents who turned out for a public meeting October 24 on the planned closing of four Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branches heard Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and library Director Barbara Mistick announce that the targeted branches may get a reprieve. The officials told the crowd that a plan was in the works to raise $1.2 million in local and state funds to cover the library system’s budget shortfall, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported October 24.

“We’re not going to give a dime of city money [to the libraries] if it doesn’t translate to keeping those libraries open,” said Ravenstahl, who added that the short-term solution would be followed by efforts to find ongoing funding for CLP’s 19 branches. “It’s a complex decision with a lot of moving parts,” Mistick told the audience, explaining that it would take $14 million to address the predicted operating deficit by 2014, up $8 million from the five-year shortfall of $6 million projected in June. She added, “If we can work together and find the dollars, the board will consider it.”

About 100 people, some holding signs reading “Save Our Libraries” and “Livable Cities Keep Their Libraries Open,” spoke in opposition to the proposed closures. “Livable cities need oxygen sources for their neighborhoods,” declared Tess McShane, “and when you close libraries, you are killing those neighborhoods.”

CLP announced (PDF file) October 6 that it would close the Beechview, West End, and Hazelwood branches and merge the Carrick and Knoxville branches by February, as well as closing the Lawrenceville facility by summer’s end and cutting service hours by 28% systemwide and laying off 30 staffers. The announcement came three days before the Pennsylvania legislature passed a budget that included $68.3 million in state support for libraries for FY2010–a 26.7% cut from the previous year’s appropriation.

The library system receives 70% of its funding—$17.6 million—from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD), which funds libraries, parks, and cultural attractions through the county’s 1% sales tax; funding also comes from the state and a $40,000 contribution from the city—the latter an amount that has remained unchanged since the library was founded in 1895.

In the wake of the announcement of the closings, the RAD board voted unanimously October 21 to conduct a special audit to investigate the library’s long-term finances. The vote followed a hearing where residents decried the closings and State Rep. Chelsa Wagner (D-Beechview) reproached Mistick and the library board for “a lack of transparency” in making the decision, the Post-Gazette reported October 22. Wagner noted that if a proposal to allow table games at casinos is approved by the legislature, taxes on the revenue could go toward the state’s libraries. She urged library officials to “table” plans to close the branches until additional revenue can be found.

As budget-makers continue to crunch numbers, concerned community citizens continue to plan rallies at the Facebook group Save Our Pittsburgh Libraries.

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