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 ---
I’m Steve Pietzak,
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
The "old" Allegheny Regional Library is the " 1st PUBLICLY SUPPORTED ANDREW CARNEGIE
LIBRARY IN THE
IT MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE AND HISTORICAL SENSE TO
MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE THE OLD ALLEGHENY LIBRARY INTO A
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
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
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
The Library Administration was giving more
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
Sincerely,
Stephen Pietzak
403 Mountain
412-481-5660
epietzak@hotmail.com 10/2/2006
Appendix to Public Statement --
A. August
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?
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?