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WHEREAS, American steel industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant who built Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to make knowledge and learning "free to the people"; and,
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WHEREAS, when the Library's eighth branch opened on East Carson Street in in 1909, Pittsburgh's South Side was home to a substantial immigrant population, many of whom worked at the mills and factories such as Jones and Laughlin Steel Mill and the United States Glass Company nearby; and,
WHEREAS, with books in English, Polish, German, Lithuanian, Italian and Slovakian, as well as a large collection of technological and mechanical books, South Siders quickly embraced the Carnegie Library Pittsburgh - South Side, with 10,497 visitors coming to the branch in the first 10 days; and,
WHEREAS, more than a century later in 2023, nearly 40,000 people visited CLP - South Side, with 51,600 items circulated in that year alone; and,
WHEREAS, the two-story, red-brick CLP - South Side was designed by Alden & Harlow (Pittsburgh's leading architectural firm at the time), was the first home of the Helen Keller Book Clubs in the 1920s- which rewarded children for reading and giving oral reports, and later served as a fallout shelter during the World Wars; and,
WHEREAS, the branch was renovated in 2012, but kept many of its original features, and still houses its original furniture from 1909. When the tables were restored, the woodworker said that removing 100 years' worth of bubblegum from the bottoms was the most challenging task; and,
WHEREAS, guided by the mission of literacy and learning, the CLP - South Side is a destination space for information, technology, community building, social connection and fun, language learning, computer classes, citizenship resources; and, WHEREAS, always evolving to meet the needs of the community, and in celebration of 115 years, CLP - South Side will be unveiling a new local history collection.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, tha...
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