Statement before the Glenn A. Walsh
Board of
Directors,
Allegheny Regional
Asset
District Telephone:
412-561-7876
Electronic
Mail: < gawalsh@andrewcarnegie.cc >
Internet
Web Site: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
2005
October 3
Good evening, I am Glenn A.
Walsh of
At the present time, the
Sharpsburg Library is scheduled to close next month. If this does happen, it
will be the first RAD-funded library to close since the formation of the
Regional Asset District. This is not a precedent that any of us should want to
see being set.
Fortunately, meetings are
occurring that may prevent this closure; I attended one such meeting September
22. Mr. Donahoe also attended this meeting, as did County Councilman Edward
Kress, representatives from the offices of State Senator Jim Ferlo and State
Representative Frank Pistella, the Sharpsburg Mayor and most of Sharpsburg
Council, and two members of the Fox Chapel School Board. Notably absent from this meeting was any
representative from the Allegheny County Library Association.
I want to thank Mr.
Pierchalski for asking the Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA)
Executive Director, on August 29, about the proposed closure of the Sharpsburg
Library, as her annual budget presentation made no mention of the Sharpsburg
Library despite comments from the public she heard earlier in the meeting. Her
reply was as disappointing as it was predictable.
Certainly, there are many
local issues involved in the operation of a local library. However, when the
Regional Asset District spends nearly $24 million each year on county
libraries, the potential closing of a public library should be a great concern
to this Board.
And, ACLA, 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. Of
course, the primary way to hold ACLA accountable is with money.
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. Why should taxpayer funds to this
“federated county library system” increase, or even stay the same, if a
community loses their library? If there are fewer libraries for ACLA to fund,
ACLA should not be distributing the same amount of money as when they had more
libraries to fund.
Such a policy would serve as
an incentive for ACLA to be proactive in efforts to keep libraries open to the
public!
Thank you.
gaw