Carnegie Library shifts and evolves

The historic library sets its sights on the future

Story and Photos By Mick Stinelli

Entering the Carnegie Library in Oakland, one might be surprised to see people fiddling with electronic synthesizers. One might be surprised to find people gathered in costumes, playing games and drinking cocktails. One might be surprised to walk into a yearly gathering of passionate gardeners trading seeds with each other. It is, however, not unusual.

In an age when books can be downloaded instantly, the Carnegie Library has introduced a wide variety of programs aimed to get people of all ages into the library, and many of these programs may go under the radar of those who don’t frequent the location.

“Often times, we find there’s some stereotypes and some stigma about libraries, in that people don’t feel super comfortable coming in here,” LeAnn Anna, the Library Services Manager of Public and Reader Services, said. She said people imagine the library to be like “their grandmother’s library, where a librarian would sit behind a desk and just shush them.”

Over the years, the library has evolved from a center of learning and reading into a gathering place for just about everyone in the community. They offer help to people searching for jobs, host late night theme parties and rent out technology resources.

The library's collection of obscure zines archives a sect of DIY history. The titles include Shotgun Seamstress and The Anarchist Uterus

In 2017, Tara Goe, a librarian in the music department, was inspired by the Ann Arbor District Library’s wide array of “music tools.” She decided electronic instruments might be something the Carnegie Library could want to dip their toes into.

“A light bulb went off,” Goe said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I feel like if we loaned this kind of stuff, we might bring in different users that we don’t normally serve with our score collection.”

The idea worked, as Goe and fellow librarian David King said they’d tapped into an entirely new clientele. The program was so successful, Goe said, that the library is bringing in a new batch of electronic instruments, including synthesizers from Moog and Pittsburgh Modular. Despite the instruments being highly valuable, nothing has completely disappeared. “For doing this over a year, and for things going out 600 times, that’s really good,” Goe said. “There’s some people who even call and say, ‘It’s going to be a day late, I’m so sorry!’”

While electronic synthesizers and drum machines fill the second floor, the library also helps its patrons find their green thumb. Anna described the library’s Seed Swap program as one of the library’s most exciting events. Through a partnership with Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the library hosts a meeting for people to swap seeds from their personal gardens. “The Seed Swap draws hundreds of people,” Anna said.

When asked about services that readers might not know about, Anna said that the Readers’ Advisory program was one of the big things that comes to mind. One of the ways the library is trying to think outside the box is by targeting parents during the library’s story time. When parents bring their young children into the library’s children section for story time, they often are unable to find time to look for books themselves. Anna described parents rushing around the library before story time ended, frantically trying to search for material before story time ended.

When a member of Anna’s staff noticed parents grasping for books while their children were being read to, they devised an idea of going into the children’s section before and after story time with a wide selection of books and other materials for adults. This way, parents could get a selection of content from various sections of the library without having to worry about leaving their children.

Another service that people may not know the library offers, is helping to develop people’s job skills. Wes Roberts, the Manager of Workforce and Economic Development at the main Carnegie Library, said one of the library’s upcoming programs was the Side Hustle series. “It’s about how to get into the gig economy and different types of side hustles that people do.” Beyond that, his department has computer classes, one-on-one resume help and mock interviews, among other things.

Roberts assured that this wasn’t a new phenomenon, however. “The library’s evolved,” he said. “But the job stuff, we were doing way before my time, in the late ‘70s.” When Pittsburgh deindustrialized, former steelworkers went to the library to find books to learn new job skills. Now, that sector focuses on teaching technology literacy, too.

People using the library's job resources.

“I had to be defensive of that when I came into this position,” Roberts explained. “People were like, ‘Why does the library help with jobs?’ Well, if you saw how people come to us looking for these things, that’s why.”

Situated in the middle of a college campus, the library also focuses on things beyond its academic resources to draw in students. “A couple times a year, library staff from all over the system come together and we plan a big party that we have here after-hours,” Anna described.

The library saw a massive turnout for their Harry Potter party. People showed up in costumes while the library served cocktails based on the Harry Potter franchise, and engaged in games, crafts and activities throughout the library. On April 6, the library hosted an “Alice in Wonderland”-themed party.

Beyond the one million-plus titles housed in the main library in Oakland, the music, film and audio department contains over 80,000 musical books and scores. “It’s one of the largest collections of music in the country,” King said. The department has sheet music for popular musicals, but it also has an eclectic collection beyond that – music for barbershop quartets, dance orchestra and over a thousand pieces of music composed in the Pittsburgh region.

An unfinished puzzle; these are often found in different place of the library for anyone to help finish

In addition to the expansive collection of musical scores and tech, the library is also going to be offering another electronic resource – Wi-Fi hotspots. “You’ll be able to take them out and use that hotspot for the lending period, which will initially be three weeks,” Wren McGalliard, the Supervisor of Customer Service and Accounts. “So that’s basically a free internet for a limited period of time - which is pretty cool, to me.”

Despite all the ways the library is expanding and changing, in the end, Anna turned the focus towards the people. “You’ve probably heard or read by now that our mission is to engage our community in literacy and learning, and the only way that we can engage is by listening. A librarian’s role – number one – is to listen to the people that are in front of them.”

Mick Stinelli is a student journalist at Point Park University. He is a writer and editor for The Globe and has a weekly radio show, “Mick’s Tapes,” on WPPJ.