Editing Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (section)

== History ==
The City of Pittsburgh was originally home to eight Carnegie libraries constructed at the turn of the twentieth century. In 1881, Andrew Carnegie offered a US$250,000 grant to the city for the construction of a public library on the condition that the city provided the land and annual funding for the maintenance of the property.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20030302carnegie2.asp|title=Carnegie's Library Legacy|last=Lowry|first=Patricia|date=2003-03-02|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=2016-04-21|archive-date=2016-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509112640/http://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20030302carnegie2.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>  The city declined Carnegie's initial offer out of concern that a publicly funded library was not a state-sanctioned use of public tax funds.  With the passing of several years and the state legislature's endorsement of the project, however, the city reconsidered the offer and reached out to Carnegie in the interest of accepting his grant.<ref name=":0" />

In 1890, the City of Pittsburgh accepted an expanded grant of $1 million for the building of the main library in Oakland and five branches in the neighborhoods of [[Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh)|Lawrenceville]], [[West End (Pittsburgh)|West End]], Wylie Avenue ([[Hill District]]), [[Mount Washington, Pittsburgh (neighborhood)|Mount Washington]], and [[Hazelwood (Pittsburgh)|Hazelwood]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.carnegielibrary.org/about/milestones.html |title=Historic Milestones |date=2014 |website=Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh |access-date=2016-04-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110125422/http://www.carnegielibrary.org/about/milestones.html |archive-date=2014-01-10 }}</ref>  While the initial plan only called for those five branches, the city later received another three Carnegie libraries in the [[East Liberty (Pittsburgh)|East Liberty]], [[South Side (Pittsburgh)|South Side]], and [[Homewood (Pittsburgh)|Homewood]] neighborhoods.  Construction on the main library was finished in 1895 while the branch libraries were constructed over the following fifteen years, ending with the completion of the Homewood branch in 1910.<ref name=":1" />

Six of the original Carnegie library branch locations continue to serve as public libraries in their respective neighborhoods: Lawrenceville, West End, Mount Washington, Hazelwood, South Side, and Homewood.  The East Liberty branch was demolished in the 1960s as part of a redevelopment plan, and the Wylie Avenue branch was moved to a new location in 1982.<ref name=":0" />

In January 2022, the 201 members of the United Library Workers (ULW), the union of library staff, which organized with [[United Steelworkers]] in 2019, ratified their first contract with the library's management.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-08|title=Carnegie Library Of Pittsburgh Workers Ratify First Union Contract|url=https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2022/01/08/usw-carnegie-library-union-contract/|access-date=2022-01-16|language=en-US}}</ref> Environmental service workers and drivers had already been unionized with the [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters|Teamsters]] and [[Service Employees International Union|SEIU]].<ref>{{Cite press release|last=Steelworkers (USW)|first=United|title=Carnegie Library workers ratify first labor agreement|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carnegie-library-workers-ratify-first-labor-agreement-301456632.html|access-date=2022-01-16|website=www.prnewswire.com|language=en}}</ref>