Thanks to last year’s big expansion of evening hours, more people are visiting the 19 branches of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
That was some of the good news announced by library officials Monday at the group’s annual public meeting. But on a cautionary note, officials added that projected budget deficits starting in 2026 will require the library to look for ways to reduce costs and boost fundraising.
The increase in hours came in March 2024 in response to public comment for the library’s current five-year strategic plan. The library added 93 hours of service per week system-wide, ensuring that most branches now remain open until 8 p.m. at least three nights a week.
For the calendar year — including the two months before the expansion took place — about 250,000 more visitors came to one branch or another for a total of some 1.68 million visitors to the branch locations. March through December, the rise was about 20%.
“If you look at our communities, people wanted more after hours and more weekends, period. So we knew it would have uptick,” said board of trustees chair Marc Brown at Monday’s meeting, held in the South Wing Reading Room of the main branch, in Oakland.
The expansion was paid for by a 3% boost in contributions from the taxpayer-funded Allegheny Regional Asset District, which provides nearly two-thirds of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s total revenue. Most of the rest comes from state grants and the City of Pittsburgh’s library tax.
Brown said the Carnegie Library system (which includes only Carnegie Libraries within the city) ran a small budget surplus last year and is projecting a small deficit this year on a total budget of $42.2 million. But projected rising expenses and flat revenue point toward a bigger deficit of $2 million in 2026, and even larger deficits thereafter.
In 2024, private fundraising brought in $4.4 million, and the goal for 2025 was $5.5 million, Brown said. Brown and library president and director Andrew Medlar indicated cost cuts would also be needed to balance the books.
Brown also announced that the library had further cemented its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access program as part of its mission, making the board’s IDEA group a new standing committee.
Such programs, often rendered as “DEI,” have suffered backlash in the face of hostility and threats of reduced funding from the Trump administration. But Brown said, “We have to do what’s right for the community regardless.” (The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh receives no federal funds.)
Monday’s meeting served as a progress report on the first year of the library’s 2024-2028 strategic plan. In other news, Medlar announced a 16% increase in total registration for the library’s summer reading program, and a 43% increase in books logged. And he said the library’s CardFest program, in partnership with Pittsburgh Public Schools and the City of Pittsburgh, mailed library cards to the homes of the 14,000 PPS students who did not already have accounts.
The library also honored library advocates for service in 2024. The Advocate of the Year award went jointly to PPS executive director of literacy and library services Ann Fillmore and East Liberty branch Therapet volunteers Melissa Saul and her dog, Blue. The Teen Advocate awardee was Ian Keefe, an intern at CLP-South Side. And the Community Partner of the Year was the Riverside Center for Innovation, which teams with the library to support disadvantaged entrepreneurs.
The library is also preparing to begin public meetings and a community survey for its new comprehensive plan for its main branch. Details will be posted on its website.
