NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release: 2005 October 4

For more information -- Glenn A. Walsh:

Daytime: E-Mail < gawalsh@andrewcarnegie.cc >

Evening: Telephone 412-561-7876

Internet Web Site: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >

ACLA SHOULD BE PROACTIVE TO

PREVENT SHARPSBURG LIBRARY CLOSURE

SHARPSBURG LIBRARY CLOSURE WOULD BE FIRST RAD-FUNDED LIBRARY TO CLOSE

Pittsburgh, Oct. 4 – “ACLA (Allegheny County Library Association), which heralds themselves as a “federated county library system,” should be proactive in efforts to keep libraries open and held accountable when a library closes.” This statement was made by library advocate and former library trustee Glenn A. Walsh, before the Board of Directors of the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD) on

October 3.

Mr. Walsh, who served as a Life Trustee for the Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie, Pennsylvania in the late 1990s, went on to say, “The Regional Asset District should adopt a policy that if a public library closes, the annual RAD subsidy to ACLA is reduced by a certain percentage.”

Mr. Walsh’s comments were prompted by the announcement that the Sharpsburg Library, a branch of the Lauri Ann West Memorial Library in O’Hara Township, would close permanently in November. If such a closing were to occur, it would be the first RAD-funded library to close since the formation of the Allegheny Regional Asset District in 1994.

CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINKS, TO READ THE COMPLETE PUBLIC STATEMENT --

Prepared Text:

< https://andrewcarnegie.tripod.com/acla/ST-RAD-ACLA.htm >

Large-Print Version:

< https://andrewcarnegie.tripod.com/acla/ST-RAD-ACLA-LP.htm >

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Background Information: The Sharpsburg Library is a branch of the Lauri Ann West Memorial Library in O’Hara Township, Pennsylvania. In August of 2005, the Community Center and Library Association, which operates both the main and branch libraries, announced that the Sharpsburg branch library would close on or before 2005 November 1, due to a financial crisis sparked by the huge increase in rent for the branch location. This was despite efforts of the Friends of the Sharpsburg Library to find a new library site and new funding, for the continuation of the branch library in Sharpsburg. It should also be noted that the Community Center and Library Association is planning construction of a new $10 million library facility in the Borough of Fox Chapel, as well as contemplating starting another branch library in Indiana Township. For more information on this issue –

Archive of news articles on Sharpsburg Library crisis:

< http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/archive/archivene.2005.html#sharpsburg >

Note to Editors and Reporters: Glenn A. Walsh served as a Life Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2000 (including as Library Treasurer from 1995 to 1996). Mr. Walsh was a Delegate to the Allegheny County Library Association, representing the Andrew Carnegie Free Library, from 1995 to 1999. The views expressed in the statement and news release are those of Mr. Walsh and do not reflect the views of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library.

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