Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees to Announce Plan for Addressing Library Funding Issues

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees to Announce Plan for
Addressing Library Funding Issues

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Funding cuts, coupled with
escalating annual operating costs, are projected to create a widening gap
between operating revenue and expense at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Library officials will hold a news media briefing to share the details of a
plan to reduce costs and protect the quality of library services for the
citizens of Allegheny County.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
11:00 AM

WHERE: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Main
4400 Forbes Avenue, Oakland
Director's Conference Room

About Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
To Engage our Community in Literacy and Learning

Established as a public trust in 1895, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh serves
the citizens of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County with a distinguished history
of leadership among the country's great public libraries. Through its 19
neighborhood locations, including the Main Library and the Library for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the
region's most visited asset, with 2.6 million visitors in 2008. Each year the
Library provides valuable resources, programs, classes and training
opportunities that engage the community in literacy, and life-long learning.

In 1895, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie dedicated the Main library of Carnegie
Library of Pittsburgh and proclaimed it 'free to the people.' While he
provided the seed money to build the first public library to bear his name in
Pittsburgh, he did not endow its on-going costs, as he believed the community
and local government should take ownership and responsibility for such a
valuable community asset. For many years, grants from the City of Pittsburgh,
Allegheny County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided operating
revenue for Pittsburgh's libraries. In 1994, the Allegheny Regional Asset
District was created and became the major source of annual operating funds,
thus reducing the role of funding by local government. Approximately 70% of
the Library's annual operating funds come from sales tax revenue distributed
by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.

In 2004, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh began to actively fundraise to support
a capital improvement program to address its aging facilities. The campaign
recently capped off a $55 million goal in which these funds were dedicated to
the renovation of nearly one-half of the libraries facilities.

In June, the Library began to educate the public about the chronic
underfunding of the system and the need to reduce expenses and find new
long-term and dedicated sources of revenue to sustain the viability of the
Library system.

To learn more about Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, please visit
www.carnegielibrary.org.

SOURCE Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Trina Walker, Director, Communications, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh,
+1-412-578-2483 (office)