Photographs -
Andrew Carnegie Free Library

Original Oak Circulation Desk

The old and the new together: Librarians use a computer to checkout library books for patrons, at the original oak circulation desk in the Andrew Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie, Pa.

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Fireplace and Andrew Carnegie Portrait

A portrait of Andrew Carnegie hangs prominently over the fireplace, in the main reading room of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie, Pa. Photo 1 (1)***Photo 2 (1)

Librarians' Offices

The following photographs show the offices used by the Library Staff.
The oak window frames and door frames, along with the oak doors, are repeated throughout the Library.

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Original Oak Bookcases

The following photographs show the original oak bookcases, which hold the adult nonfiction and fiction collections.

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Public Computers Which Access the Internet

Computers, which access the Internet, allow library patrons to obtain information from any part of the world. The library's computers are part of the Electronic Information Network For Public Libraries in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania(EIN). Partial funding for these computers came from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, which distributes proceeds from a one percent sales and use tax levied in Allegheny County.

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Historic Library Children's Room

One of the country's oldest library Children's Rooms, in the Andrew Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie, Pa. Photograph 1 highlights the original oak tables and chairs in the Children's Room. Photograph 3 includes one of the Library's two original card catalogs, now used for the children's book collection. Photograph 6 shows the beautiful, ornamental skylight, which provides additional light to the Library's Children's Room.

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Library's Discount Bookstore

The lower level of the Library includes a Discount Bookstore, which is open to the public the same hours the Library is open to the public. Photograph 2 shows the Mary Harris Room, one of three rooms which comprise the Discount Bookstore; the third room, not shown, is a Chidren's Room. The Mary Harris Room is dedicated to the memory of a long-time Library Director, who served in the middle of the twentieth century. The Mary Harris Room is also used for meetings and classes.

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Library Foyer

These are photographs of the marble-walled Foyer used as the entrance to the Free Library. The two staircases provide access to the 140-seat Lecture Hall(once used as the Borough of Carnegie Council Chamber) and the Civil War Museum(Captain Thomas Espy Post Number 153, Grand Army of the Republic).

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Music Hall

The following are photographs of the Library's acoustically-perfect, 788-seat Music Hall, patterned after Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Carnegie Men's Glee Club provided the first performance in the Music Hall on May 10, 1901. Andrew Carnegie dedicated the Library building, on the stage of the Music Hall on April 22, 1902. Photograph 1 shows the Music Hall Foyer. Photograph 2 shows a 1997 recreation of the 1902 Music Hall curtain given to the Library by Andrew Carnegie; the curtain includes a painting of Andrew Carnegie's Scottish home, Skibo Castle. Photographs 3 and 4 are scenes from the Stage 62 performance of The Music Man, performed on the Music Hall stage in November of 1998. Photograph 5 is a scene from The Pirates of Penzance, performed on the Music Hall stage by The Pittsburgh Savoyards in October of 1998. Photographs 6, 7, and 8 show the stage and the orchestra pit. Photograph 6 was taken just prior to a Stage 62 performance of The Music Man. Photograph 7 shows the Pittsburgh Savoyards Orchestra, at the beginning of a performance of The Pirates of Penzance. Photographs 9, 10, and 11 show the Music Hall's balcony. Photograph 11 also provides a good picture of the Music Hall's original mahogany seats(under each seat is a wire frame, for storage of a gentleman's top hat). Photograph 12 shows the "Auditorium Circle" of lights on the ceiling of the Music Hall. Photograph 13 shows the outside entrance to the Music Hall, which is on the side of the building facing Library Park.

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Upcoming Performances and Events in the Music Hall -

Civil War Museum(Captain Thomas Espy Post Number 153, Grand Army of the Republic)

In 1906, the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic(G.A.R.), a Civil War veterans' social organization, made an agreement with the Board of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library. A room on the second floor of the Library building would become the permanent home of the Captain Thomas Espy Post Number 153 of the Grand Army of the Republic; the members of the organization would store their artifacts and other memorabilia, from the Civil War, in this room. When the last member of the Post "met his final role call"(which occurred in 1937) the artifacts and memorabilia would automatically become the property of the Library, to be displayed as a Museum, so the public could learn more about the Civil War and the men who fought in the conflict. These photographs show tourists viewing artifacts in the Library's Civil War Museum. Today, the Captain Thomas Espy Post looks much as it did in 1906; it is the last G.A.R. Post in its original condition(and original location) in Pennsylvania, and possibly in the country.

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Building Facade, Cannons, and Gymnasium

Photograph 1 shows the Gymnasium located on the lower level of the Library building; the Gymnasium is currently leased to the Carnegie Performing Arts Center, a local, nonprofit dance and drama school. Photographs 2 through 8 show various views of the Library entrance of the building. Photographs 9 and 10 show the two cannons, used in the Spanish-American War, which now guard the Library entrance. Photograph 11 shows the side of the building, looking towards the Music Hall entrance. Photograph 12 shows the Music Hall entrance, which faces Library Park.

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Library Park

The Andrew Carnegie Free Library is located in Library Park, a small in-town park on Library Hill, just above the Carnegie Borough business district. On a dedication plaque in the Library Foyer, Andrew Carnegie declares that the additional property he purchased, that is not needed for the Library building, is to be a public park. As with the Library building, the Library Park is managed for the benefit of the citizens of Carnegie, by the Library Board of Trustees. Photograph 1 shows the World War I Memorial in the lower end of Library Park, near the intersection of Beechwood and Broadway Avenues. Photographs 2 through 7 are various views of Library Park. Photograph 8 shows the signboard, in the lower end of Library Park at the intersection of Beechwood Avenue and Williams Way; near Broadway and East Main Street, this signboard is used to announce performances in the Music Hall. Photograph 9 shows one of the new park benches, recently donated to Library Park by the Borough of Carnegie.

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Winter Scenes

Photographs with Number (1): © Copyright 1999 Lynne S. Comunale, All Rights Reserved.

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