A proposal to pay for libraries in part with Pittsburgh's excess gasoline money fueled a burst of pronouncements yesterday on keeping city and suburban facilities open, but also drew criticism for being premature.

Nearly a month after the Carnegie Library Board of Trustees voted to close the Beechview, Hazelwood, Lawrenceville and West End branches, and merge the Carrick and Knoxville branches, City Council President Doug Shields proposed pledging $600,000 from the city's flush fuel fund now, and the same amount from its healthy savings account next year, to keep the libraries open.

The city's fuel fund is the amount of money the city budgets to fill the gas tanks of its fleet of vehicles. Mr. Shields said the fund is expected to finish the year with a $1.6 million surplus because the city anticipated that gas prices would be higher than they were.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, meanwhile, swung behind the notion of dedicating all local revenue from proposed casino table games to libraries -- the city share to the Carnegie Libraries, and the county share to the Allegheny County Library Association.

Some combination of those concepts appears to be emerging from delicate talks between city, county, state and library officials aimed at keeping the branches open, and securing a healthy funding stream for the future.

State Sen. Jay Costa, a library trustee, said the immediate goal is to forego the closures, by figuring out how much money the Carnegie Libraries need, getting a short-term fix in place to keep the doors open throughout next year and putting together "a public-private group to assess long-term needs."

The Carnegie Library's board of trustees earlier this month voted to close the five branches and make other cost-cutting moves to cover a projected $1.2 million budget deficit.

He said there's a "50-50 chance" that the General Assembly will dedicate a sliver of table games revenue to the cities and counties that host casinos, and if so, he wants half of that to go to libraries.

He said Mr. Shields' proposal makes council "the first group, the only group at this point, that's bringing resources to the table, and I applaud them for doing that."

"We're going to provide that bridge funding to get them through next year," said Mr. Shields. "There are funds in these [city] budgets."

The fuel fund pledge could come up for a council vote as early as Nov. 11. There's broad support on the nine-member body for helping the libraries, but perhaps not via Mr. Shields' bill.

Councilman Jim Motznik, a library trustee whose district includes Beechview, said Mr. Shields is jumping out with a proposal that's not comprehensive.

"At the end of the day, no library's going to close, and no one from council or the mayor's office is going to stand up and say, 'I did this,' which is what Doug is trying to do," he said.

Councilman Patrick Dowd, who represents Lawrenceville, said the goal "should not be to throw out a speculative proposal."

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's office issued a statement saying keeping libraries open is "a top priority" and the administration is "open to all proposals and recommendations."

The Carnegie Library issued a statement saying it is "appreciative of any offer of short-term dollars that would lead to dedicated long-term funding."

Yesterday, Carnegie Library Board Financial Chair Lou Testoni said the deck is stacked against the slated-for-closure branches based on population and operating costs. The Lawrenceville branch needs millions of dollars in repair work, while the West End and Mt. Washington buildings are unsuited to today's handicapped access laws. The Mount Washington branch is set to be moved to another location in that neighborhood.

Any quick fix would only buy time to "continue the dialogue," Mr. Testoni said.

One problem remains with dedicating money from table games to libraries: The General Assembly is still hashing out details on tables games, such as how much casinos should pay for a license fee, how much they should be taxed and how the tax money will be used. It also hasn't been determined whether there will be a local share for cities and counties that host casinos, like the 1 percent they each receive from slots.

Kevin Evanto, Mr. Onorato's spokesman said neither the problem, nor the solution, are confined to the city limits.

"ACLA is constantly facing funding issues for all of its libraries throughout the county," said Mr. Evanto. Table game revenue from the Rivers Casino that would be "a few million dollars a year ... would be a significant help to both the Carnegie and ACLA libraries."

He said Mr. Onorato and Mr. Ravenstahl have been communicating on the proposal.

ACLA Executive Director Marilyn Jenkins said the 44 independent libraries her organization services have been hit by the 20 percent cut in state funding, elimination of other state programs they've tapped, and flat revenue from the Regional Asset District 1 percent sales tax.

"I think some of them are looking at not being able to maintain a level of standards required for independent libraries, and that puts them in a position of looking for alternatives," like mergers with other libraries, she said.

"Half a million to a million dollars would make a significant difference," she said. "It would plug some much-needed-funding gaps."

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