The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will seek the public’s input and share future plans at its annual community meeting Tuesday night.
Library director Mary Frances Cooper said those plans include an increased focus on improving childhood literacy, as well as programs to help teens explore creativity through technology.
She said the library will look to hire for a new position focused on this initiative.
“If we don’t start working with children at very young ages, exposing them to words and to reading; that’s what all the research shows is key for healthy brain development,” Cooper said. “So, they go to school ready to learn.”
Cooper said the Knoxville, Carrick and Mt. Washington branches are all undergoing, or scheduled for renovations.
“The important responsibility that we have now is the ongoing maintenance,” Cooper said. “You have to upgrade systems, you have to replace windows and roofs over time, you have to make sure elevators are up to code.”
The Knoxville branch is currently closed for construction and will reopen in June. Renovations to the Carrick and Mt. Washington branches are expected to begin once the Knoxville branch reopens.
The public meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the East Liberty branch.
