Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Cultural Center Campaign

The Andrew Carnegie Library stands at a crossroads in its distinguished history. More than a century old, this majestic landmark, educational resource and cultural treasure is threatened by age and deterioration. It must turn to the public for capital support.

Built as a gift to the people, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library is asking the people to help restore the building to its grand design The Library Board and Chartiers Valley Partnership have determined that an investment of $8.6 million is needed and has launched a Capital Campaign to raise that amount. A generous anonymous donor has challenged the community to step up and support this important campaign by promising an unprecedented $500,000 if the community can match that amount by October 2004.

Community suppport will provide a tremendous boost to this effort as we work to raise the entire $8.6 million through a combined public-private partnership. We feel confident that additional funds will become available as the Carnegie and Chartiers Valley communities served by the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Cultural Center seize the initiative in meeting the challenge. Funds raised through this campaign will be used to secure the structural integrity of this historic building and improve accessibility and enjoyment by everyone in our community.

We hope you will join us in our efforts to restore, renovate and revitalize the Andrew Carnegie Free Library. Help us bring back this crown jewel of the Chartiers Valley.

Sincerely,
Charles R. Goetz, Co-Chair
William E. Manby, Co-Chair
Morgan K. O'Brien, Honorary Chair

A Gift for the People
It was a gift the people of the community longed for--so much so that the boroughs of Mansfield and Chartiers merged, becoming the borough of Carnegie. They hoped this bold move would encourage the great philanthropist and industrialist to donate a library to their new community.

Their plan worked and in 1898 Andrew Carnegie approved the purchase of property atop a hill in the small town outside of Pittsburgh. It was Carnegie's dream to construct a building there for the people complete with a library, music hall, lecture hall and gymnasium.

Although he allowed fees to be charged for use of the halls for entertainment, concerts and other "suitable performances and assemblages," Carnegie stipulated that "the Library shall be free to the people forever." To ensure that no library admission fee would ever be charged, he insisted that the word "Free" be permanently engraved on the majestic building. Thus, the words "Carnegie Free Library" were chiseled over the outside entrance and carved into the wood paneling over the fireplace in the main reading room.

The Andrew Carnegie Free Library opened to the public in 1901. Although Carnegie went on to fund more than 2,800 libraries, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library would be the only library in the country to bear his first name.

A Beacon of Culture, Community and Learning
Built as a focal point for the growing mill town, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library has been a bright spot serving the community and five generations of families in Carnegie and the surrounding Chartiers Valley community for more than 100 years. It has provided books and other library materials, musical and theatrical performances, and a rich array of cultural, educational and civic programming. Neighborhood youngsters once played basketball in the gymnasium, while Carnegie High School's band concerts, plays and graduation took place in the Music Hall.

Today, both young and old frequent the grand but aging Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall. The Library houses 30,000 volumes and serves 36,000 patrons a year, hosts poetry and writing groups, computer classes, school art shows, and "Meet the Candidates" nights. It is also home to a national treasure: The Civil War Room, used by local veterans from 1906 until the mid-1930s for meetings and storage of their collection of flags, books, prints and relics. When the Thomas Espy Post of the Grand Army of the Republic ceased operations, the Civil War Room was locked and left undisturbed for 50 years. Not only does it houses invaluable artifacts, it also provides a unique historical record of the first part of the century.

Modeled after the famed Carnegie Hall in New York, the acoustically superb 780-seat Music Hall continues to draw a crowd and is home to three resident performing arts companies: Carnegie Performing Arts Center--a non-profit dance and drama school for students of all ages, Pittsburgh Savoyards--Western Pennsylvania's longest running theatrical troupe and specialists in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and Stage 62, which performs four popular plays annually.

In 1981, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of only three buildings in the Chartiers Valley with this distinction.

Frozen in Time
The very mass, design and site of the Library conveys permanence and prominence. It sits grandly at the top of Beechwood Avenue in a park-like setting of sweeping lawns and graceful old trees in the heart of Carnegie.

To walk inside the Library or Music Hall is to take a step back in time. Little has changed since the building first opened. The original oak circulation desk has seen uninterrupted use in the center of the Library--a rarity even in other historic facilities.

Unfortunately, damage resulting from water, age and lack of resources threatens the future of this magnificent building and seriously impacts its ability to serve the public. It is inaccessible to people with disabilities and children in strollers, has no air conditioning and insufficient heating, has few bathrooms (none are handicap accessible), its mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems are not up to code, and it lacks parking. Simply put, desite its historic and architectural significance, the grand old building is worn, uncomfortable and unwelcoming.

A New Vitality for a New Century
Action must be taken now to restore, renovate and revitalize the Andrew Carnegie Free Library so that once again it will be attractive, welcoming and user-friendly for the people over the next century. A revitalized Library and Music Hall will attract more people--improving its own economic viability and stimulating the economy of Carnegie and the Chartiers Valley.

The $8.6 million capital campaign will secure the structural integrity of the building while dramatically upgrading its capacity to serve the public. Improvements include:

Refurbishing the building to secure the building's "envelope" and make it weather resistant;
Renovations to meet ADA/accessibility, life safety and code requirements, along with aesthetic improvements;
System upgrades to improve heating and ventilation and add air conditioning;
Improvements to the telecommunications and data systems; and
Historic restoration, repair and replacement.

The ultimate vision of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Cultural Center Campaign is a vibrant regional cultural center offering a quality library, thriviing theatrical performances and resources that will meet the educational, cultural and civic needs of the Chartiers Valley communities.

For further information about the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Cultural Center Campaign, contact Maggie Forbes, A.L. Brourman Associates, Inc., 412/261-6344.

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