Libraries deserve a permanent funding solution

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is a vital resource for all literacy-related activities in the city of Pittsburgh. As directors of literacy organizations, we are saddened by the branch closings and consolidations that were announced this week ("Library System Trims 5 Branches Across City," Oct. 7). The closings will have a negative effect on the education of our region's children and families.

We support a permanent solution to the funding problems of libraries in our region. Public support for libraries in our state is extremely low compared with support in other parts of the nation, and that needs to change.

Public libraries are essential to the quality of life that we enjoy in Pittsburgh, and we vow to support them in every possible way.

DONALD BLOCK
Executive Director
Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council
East Liberty

The letter also was signed by Keith Kondrich, executive director, Beginning with Books Inc., and Florri Ladov, executive director, Reading Is FUNdamental.

Be a library hero

In an era marked by the rise of the super-rich, a time when billionaires have displaced mere millionaires, is there among them a 21st-century Andrew Carnegie who will reach into his or her deep pockets to keep libraries opened and well-funded?

My sorrow at the current fiscal crises most libraries are grappling with morphs into chagrin when headlines remind me of what our society values most (such as "Action Filed Against Casino: Owners Fail to Make Required $7.5 Million Payment for Arena," Oct. 8 Page One).

Maybe it's time to challenge individual superstars who've made untold millions here in the Steel City. Hey, Big Ben, what about it? Crosby? Want to burnish your hero status with a lasting contribution to quality of life here? Your fan base will grow exponentially.

EILEEN COLIANNI
Trustee, Oakmont Library
Oakmont

Community hub

What's so special about the northeast side of town? What's so bad about the southwestern neighborhoods? We need to pose this question to the Carnegie Library's board of trustees with regard to its recent devastating decision to close four branches and consolidate others.

Recently, the board authorized funds for the renovation of eight libraries in the northern and eastern neighborhoods. Renovation for the southwest was authorized for only one. To further add insult to injury, the Beechview and West End branches have been deemed unnecessary and will close.

I am a college sophomore who desperately needs my part-time job at the library. As a daughter of a family with roots firmly entrenched in Beechview, I am ashamed that the Carnegie Library, on top of the Port Authority's despicable plans to downsize T stops, has further driven the proverbial stake into Beechview's heart.

The Beechview library provides a service to many that goes above and beyond loaning books. It is a hub of community information and activities; it is a safe place for children and young teens to exercise their brains and have fun; it provides research tools, including computers, for those who cannot afford their own.

As a voter, I will not vote for Dan Onorato or Wayne Fontana, two of our local politicians who did not go to bat for their constituents.

NOELLE KLEIN
Beechview

Shameful legacy

The closing of Carnegie Library branches is a tragic circumstance. It is even more tragic for families and children when the following is considered: Nine Pittsburgh public schools currently have no librarian and no plans to hire new ones. Many, if not most, Pittsburgh public schools must share a librarian between two or even three schools -- cutting service to one or two days per week.

In a city currently building a third new sports stadium, cutting library services is not just tragic but shameful. The Carnegie Libraries are not to blame: They receive only $40,000 from the city budget as funding. Their funding source is limited to the Regional Asset District tax, and when economic downturns occur, so do social services that depend on these kinds of taxes.

The Carnegie Library has done everything possible to increase service and funding sources for years. It is time for the city of Pittsburgh, the enormous nonprofits such as UPMC and, yes, even our sports franchises to step in and fund our libraries. It is time for taxpayers and voters in Pittsburgh to demand this situation be resolved for the long-term. Let the legacy of Pittsburgh children growing up with no access to books, but plenty of access to untaxed chewing tobacco, expensive sports events and riverfront gambling casinos, not be what we will our children.

SHEILA MAY-STEIN
Karen Rachel Hurwitz Library
Community Day School
Squirrel Hill

Offensive remark

I take offense at the insinuation by Witold Walczak of the ACLU that the two men huddled in a motel room on the first day of the G-20 summit listening to police and EMS scanners are ham radio operators ("Free Speech Antennas Up in G-20 Case of Twittering 2," Oct. 5). They were busted for providing information to protesters via Twitter about the movements of law enforcement. If they are amateur radio operators (which I doubt), not only is what they were doing illegal, but they should be charged with a crime and lose their license.

Amateur radio operators would never stoop so low by using their equipment to aid in the commission of a crime or civil disobedience. Besides the enjoyment of communicating with other hams, we provide emergency communications aid to organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. We also provide aid to nonemergency events such as parades, marathons and drills. We are contributors to our society, not whiners and nonproductive people.

JANET DERENCE
Carrick

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