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Sunday, June 01, 2003

By Bob Hoover, Post-Gazette Book Editor

Although he gave most of it away, Andrew Carnegie valued money a great deal, and he especially valued what he saw as the prudent use of a dollar.

He drove his steel mill execs hard to cut very penny, including doing something about those darn workers who always expected to be paid.

When the contract with union men at his Homestead Works expired June 30, 1892, he barred them from the mill and tried to hire cheaper labor.

Oh, the union objected, of course, and 13 people were killed and more hurt, but Andy eventually had his way and even pinned the blame on Henry Clay Frick.

It was Frick who took the brunt of an anarchist's assault while Carnegie stayed fit tramping the heather and sniffing the clean air in Scotland during that tumultuous summer.

The important thing was that Andy saved a few bucks and could continue to rake in the money, especially when the savings allowed him to undercut the competition.

Incidentally, said Andy, it was good to hear that old H.C. was feeling better and that he could get back to work without using too many sick days.

Yet even the thriftiest of Scots would find the size of Carnegie's fortune a wee bit embarrassing, so around 1890, he started writing checks to build libraries -- $300,000 to the old City of Allegheny and $1 million to Pittsburgh.

He would eventually donate more than $41 million for libraries worldwide until 1917.

There were conditions, of course. Carnegie could influence the design of the buildings and the makeup of the boards of trustees. As for operating expenses, well, that was the responsibility of the municipalities and the libraries.

In making his gifts, Carnegie "emphasized his belief that a public library can be successful only if it is maintained by public tax funds," wrote Ralph Munn, former director of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library.

The city, the county and eventually the state dutifully directed funds over the years to maintain Mr. Carnegie's gifts and even update them, but a century later, those "public tax funds" are vanishing.

This year's shrinking state treasury is forcing big cuts in many areas, including a 50 percent slice to libraries, in Pittsburgh's case, $2.4 million.

Much like the other organization -- the Carnegie Institute -- that shares the gray structure on Forbes Avenue, the library is drawing up plans to cut hours, reduce staff costs and eliminate programs beginning this summer.

It's not going without a fight, however. Tuesday, the main Carnegie Library will hold a rally on its entrance steps, the ones with the "Free to the People" promise chiseled above, at 4 p.m.

It's called "Celebrate Your Library and Restore State Funding," and it will be held despite last week's news that more federal funds are headed the commonwealth's way after passage of President Bush's latest tax cut program.

Gov. Ed Rendell suggested that part of $450 million in discretionary moneys might go to libraries, but later the Republican-controlled state legislature hinted it had other ideas.

Apparently, the two have yet to find the same page.

"We are gratified by the governor's words," said library Director Herbert Elish last week, "but we understand there are priorities, so we will continue to make our case for library funding."

A stagnant economy coupled with a powerful White House so determined to cut taxes so deeply that airport security budgets have been reduced produces a gloomy picture for libraries.

It's probably time to consider removing that "Free to the People" motto and installing ticket booths at the front door.

You pay $8 to see the sequel to a bad movie, why not $2.50 to get into your public library?

How much does a family of four spend to watch the Pirates or Penguins lose? At least $100, more for a hockey game. Why not pay $20 a year for an adult library card, $10 for a child's? That's not much when plenty of you spend $500 a year on cable TV or $300 for Internet access.

Some people can't afford $2.50 a day or $20 a year, you respond. By charging admission, you say, the library would be restricting access to knowledge and learning, thus denying a class of people essentials for a better life.

Also, free access to public buildings is a right, and charging admission violates that right.

All good points, but it's time to face the facts: The popular political ideology these days slashes taxes to the point where government programs we've taken for granted for years must be eliminated to cover both military spending increases and bigger budget deficits.

In return, we average folks will have more money to spend -- a whopping 1 percent, if we're lucky, after the latest federal tax cut -- so we have it to support our favorite endangered institution, the library, while we wait for the economy to take off again.

In a way, paying for libraries returns them to the days of Carnegie's youth, when they were the private domain of the rich. We can only hope that there are modern Col. James Andersons around to let us use them.