Letter to the Editor, Pittsburgh Post Gazette,

Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall

February 8, 2011

Brussalis Letter to the Editor in Support of Allegheny County Public Libraries

I wish to applaud Brian O'Neill for his thought-provoking Jan. 25 column, "We Can't Afford to Keep Quiet About Saving Libraries." Unfortunately, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is not alone in this crisis. Library funding cuts are threatening our region's quality of life well beyond the city limits.

Mr. O'Neill asked, "Do we want to be a great city or not?" With more than a million residents in Allegheny County, of which nearly 75 percent live outside of the city of Pittsburgh, a better question might be, "Do we want to be a great region or not?" Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is just one of 45 libraries in the county providing outstanding programming and services to the community.

Through the Allegheny County Library Association, of which Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is a member, our county's citizens can access millions of volumes through 72 neighborhood locations that offer a variety of community services, such as tutoring, after-school programs and career and job assistance. And where would Greater Pittsburgh be without such regional assets as the Carnegie Library of Homestead Music Hall, the Civil War Room in the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie or the historic structures that house Carnegie libraries in McKeesport and Braddock?

Libraries are in the sharing business and the Allegheny County Library Association does a great job of making all 45 libraries' circulating collections and resources available to the public. All of Allegheny County's libraries also share the threat posed by impending state budget cuts. We need to find a countywide solution for funding all of our public libraries.

CHRIS W. BRUSSALIS
Collier
The writer is president of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall Board of Trustees.

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