Public Statement of Stephen Pietzak,

Before the Board of Directors of the

Allegheny Regional Asset District

October 3, 2006

CLP - "Old" Allegheny Regional Library’s Best Site Is Where It Is Located Now --- ARAD FUNDING

I’m Steve Pietzak, 403 Mountain Ave., on the South Side Slopes—and was main Reference Librarian at Allegheny Regional Library for 13 years.

The "Old" Allegheny Regional Library is on the way to ANY location on the North Side. The Old Library has LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION, which the new proposed Library site on Federal Street doesn’t have.

The "old" Allegheny Regional Library is the " 1^st PUBLICLY SUPPORTED ANDREW CARNEGIE LIBRARY IN THE U.S." Any major city would relish the "Cradle of Andrew Carnegie Public Libraries," and preserve, save and enhance this Old Library as a "Historical Time Marker."

IT MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE AND HISTORICAL SENSE TO MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE THE OLD ALLEGHENY LIBRARY INTO A SHOWCASE FOR ALLEGHENY COUNTY, the CITY OF PITTSBURGH, and LIBRARIES.

The LIBRARY’S PRIORITY of BOOK, MAGAZINE AND NEWSPAPER COLLECTIONS HAS BEEN COMPROMISED.

The Carnegie Library will be the Number #1 Source for Information, if the library doesn’t DISCARD and SELL its resources. If the Library MAINTAINS its book and magazine collection, the Library will be the #1 Information Source; but these Collections are in danger of being "lost" and may be seriously damaged. The Library is on a PERILOUS COURSE of Disaster, if the Administration constantly tries to eliminate its source of riches, its OLDER COLLECTION of Books and Magazines—its CORE COLLECTION—this is the "Mental Food" of People!

Many Librarians and staff have worried over the last 7 years over the myopicness of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Directors and their top staff. These Directors have been concerned more about Coffee Shops and branch library smallness. Library Collections have shrunk significantly, especially the Science and Technology, Classics, Literature and Music Collections. Over the last 7 years, massive amounts of Books and Bound Magazines have been discarded. Dumpsters have been placed in back of several libraries and books have been discarded wholesale. One customer at Allegheny Library said that she has a better history collection than the library. She told me that she got the books from the dumpster. Another person I talked to from the East Liberty Carnegie Library said they had a dumpster a year or two ago and were throwing massive amounts of books.

On one weekend when I worked at the main Library, I counted 95 boxes of books that were discarded.

The recent two Library Directors seemed to forget the importance of the older collection of books and magazines, "the mental food," both to the Library and to Allegheny County.

Many Librarians and library staff fear for their jobs—and would throw the library collection away if it meant they maintained their job! One branch manager told me " I’m not going to lose my position over this stupid library branch, I’ll do what they tell me!"

In the past, the Library Administration withheld over $1 million dollars from the Library Operating Budget from ARAD funds for a Library Capital Campaign----this has crippled many Library Services, has crippled Library Collections Development and crippled Library Facilities and Hours of Service. 2

The Library Administration was giving more ARAD Money to Marketing Staff and Projects, with little money going to Public Library Services Areas of Staffing, Collections Development and Facilities Development.

The Library is on a PERILOUS COURSE of Disaster, if it doesn’t maintain its Good Collections and upgrade all of its Public Service Facilities; and doesn’t go out and seek funding from Foundations and Private Philanthropy in addition to ARAD funds.

Sincerely,

Stephen Pietzak

403 Mountain

Pittsburgh, PA 15210

412-481-5660

epietzak@hotmail.com 10/2/2006

Appendix to Public Statement --

1. How do you measure the BOOKS and MAGAZINES, the "MENTAL FOOD, of the Library?

A. August Wilson credits his local Carnegie Library for molding his mind---he read the Roman and Greek classics and tragedies—which is reflected in his many plays! How does the library measure this?

B. As a newspaper reporter, Theodore Dreiser read the Roman and Greek Classics at the Carnegie Library Allegheny Library. He wrote the American Tragedy, which is on the Top 100 Novels of all Time Lists. How does the library measure this?

3. Andrew Carnegie, as a young man, read books at the Colonel Anderson Library on the ore mines of the Great Lakes, on telegraphy, on coal fields and coal mining, on iron and steel manufacturing industries—which helped to form his great steel empire! How does the library measure this?

D. When good Scientific and Patent Collections are discarded and cannibalized--How does the library measure the loss?

E. When Classic Literature Books are discarded wholesale --How does the library measure the loss?

F. When a person reads a self-help book from the library and applies it to his/her life –how does the library measure this?