The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the public library system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its main branch is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and it has 19 branch locations throughout the city. The construction of the main library, which opened in 1895, as well as several neighborhood branches, was funded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie. While Carnegie provided the seed money to build the library facilities, he did not leave an endowment for their ongoing operations and maintenance. Thanks to local, county and state governments, corporations, foundations and individuals, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Libraries for LIFE Capital Campaign is renewing library buildings to meet the needs of today’s library customer.
In 2000 Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh embarked upon a $55 million capital campaign–the first in the Library’s history–to make neighborhood libraries accessible system-wide. Since the campaign began, the Library has renovated or relocated seven neighborhood libraries and completed a partial renovation of the Main Library, First Floor. CLP-Hill District is the seventh library to be completed in the system-wide renewal, and the city’s first newly constructed library since 1980. To date, the Library’s efforts have resulted in significant investment in Pittsburgh neighborhoods, providing a range of library services and programs for children, teens and adults and facilities that accommodate new collections and 21st century technology.