The History Of Acla

Turning

a quiet crisis into a MODEL urning OF success a quiet crisis into a MODEL OF success

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The transformation of Allegheny County’s library system through regional cooperation

The transformation of Allegheny County’s library system through regional cooperation

“Within the boundaries of the book-shelved walls of Allegheny County’s libraries, a quiet crisis is unfolding. Funding is being slashed as the price of new materials skyrockets; hours are being cut just when communities need a library’s resources the most; and too many people have to travel too far to reach the information they need.” “A Quiet Crisis”, 1991

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ll T o g e th e r n o w

Until ACLA,   too many of our county’s libraries were failing alone.   Now they’re succeeding together.

When the steel mills died in McKeesport, the library there started dying, too. It stopped

By the 1990s, too many of Allegheny County’s libraries seemed to be headed toward their final chapter.

buying books, turned

Up and down the county’s rivers were former manufacturing towns whose tax base had collapsed. As budgets declined, libraries stopped buying books. Some librarians wore boots and coats at their desks in winter. Plastic sheeting covered windows. Roofs leaked.

hours, even unscrewed

Yet amid the falling plaster, a few visionaries saw opportunity — people like Frank Lucchino, then county controller. He believed Allegheny County’s future depended on municipalities finding ways to work together — cooperating instead of competing. And in libraries, Lucchino believed he’d found the perfect test case.

die. Though money was

In a slim volume titled “A Quiet Crisis,” Lucchino along with staff members Beverly Blankowski and Jack Chielli told the story of libraries quietly fading away — in the very communities where out-of-work residents could least afford to buy books.

Today, residents can use a library card from their community library to take out a book at any other library in the county. ACLA consists of 45 independent libraries that work together, share resources and cooperate to better serve the needs of county residents.

The report’s simple, direct language opened eyes. Soon, Lucchino had brought Allegheny County’s community librarians together — north, south, east and west — for the first time in history. He asked them: “What if all of you could work together, share resources, and form one county-wide network, but retain your independence?” Then he offered them an incentive. “Cooperate, and jointly you could have access to $1 million.” From this first meeting grew the organization that became the Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA). Today, the falling plaster at our libraries is repaired. The heat stays on in winter. More locations serve more patrons than ever. And dozens of new programs stretch the definition of what a library can be. More than a decade after ACLA was founded, people talk about county-wide cooperation as if it’s science fiction. ACLA is living proof the concept works.

down the heat, cut back light bulbs. But the people of McKeesport wouldn’t let their library tight for them, residents sent dollar bills in envelopes. “The library,” they wrote, “is the heart of our community. If the library shuts its doors, that’s the end.” Today, the library shines as a busy hub of the McKeesport community.

“ACLA was formed at the intersection of crisis and opportunity.” M. Clare Zales Deputy Secretary of Education and Commissioner for Libraries

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mpowering acc e s s

In 1992, many libraries still communicated by drafting letters on manual typewriters. But when the county provided a grant for fax machines, librarians quickly saw the value of being connected. Suddenly, they could quickly communicate requests for books, and even fax copies of magazine articles. It was the first tangible demonstration of the power of the concept of county-wide cooperation.

Until ACLA,  finding a book could mean trips  to dozens of card catalogs.  Now it means a single trip to the internet. As she sat down to read the report “A Quiet Crisis,” Doreen Boyce, president of the Buhl Foundation at the time, saw “an intersection of crisis and opportunity.” The Buhl Foundation had just helped local college libraries to computerize. Ancient catalogs of index cards gave way to memory cards, accessed from computer terminals. And not surprisingly, wherever the Buhl Foundation funded these improvements, more and more students began using the library. Boyce wondered how to bring these benefits to the general public — not just college students. “A Quiet Crisis” pointed the way. Soon, Boyce and Lucchino had envisioned something no library could do alone — a county-wide computer network where residents could search an electronic card catalog listing the materials of every library in the county. This simple plan faced one enormous complication — an $11 million start-up price tag. But Doreen Boyce had an idea: To fund a county-wide library computer system, why not a county-wide fundraising effort? Over lunch, Boyce brought together the city’s leading foundations. By the time dessert arrived, she had commitments for more than half the funding. It fell to Lucchino, once again, to express the urgency to the county librarians in black and white. “Computerization is coming,” he told them. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to computerize at zero cost to local communities. The train is leaving the station. You’d better get on it.” Librarians got on board. Today, the network that grew out of this effort serves thousands of requests from residents daily. And total library circulation has increased by 28% since 2001. By cooperating, the libraries of Allegheny County did something none of them could have done alone. They created one of the first — and largest — computerized library consortia in the nation. Today, people connect with the library like never before. Easy online searching helps drive more visits to the library, because patrons can see the resources at every library in the system.

“Before RAD funding, too many librarians had to be focused on how to pay the light bill, not on delivering more service.” Jo Ellen Kenney Director, Carnegie Library of McKeesport Former President, ACLA

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reating

Until ACLA,

sustainable funding  many librarians worried about how to pay  the electric bill. Now they’re plugged into a  reliable source of funding. At about the time ACLA was being born, so was a concept called RAD. A radically new idea in government funding, RAD (Regional Asset District) grew out of the growing realization that community assets like museums, zoos and sports stadiums were regional in scope — and could not be supported solely by taxing residents of the community where their bricks and mortar happened to be. To the member libraries of ACLA, this fact was clear: “If anyone is a regional asset, we are. After all, libraries are open to everyone. Libraries may be the quintessential regional asset.” Yet, in comparison to similar metro areas, libraries in Allegheny County ranked last in per capita expenditures. Having learned the lessons of “A Quiet Crisis,” ACLA’s librarians were quiet no more. They lobbied legislators. Rallied patrons in Pittsburgh’s Market Square. Circulated petitions. And argued — loudly — that their library system was a county-wide asset that deserved RAD funding, too. ACLA was officially designated a RAD asset. And the steady flow of funding from RAD changed everything.

The Quiet Crisis in library funding forced too many librarians to focus on survival. RAD funding enabled ACLA’s libraries to once again focus on better serving their communities.

Before RAD funding, many librarians had to focus on how to pay the bills. RAD allowed them to focus on what librarians do best: Ensuring that residents had access to the information and resources they needed, putting programs in place that helped the community learn and prosper, and making services available to everyone — even the most disadvantaged. As David Donahoe of RAD put it, “ACLA looked at treating library service regionally not only to make it better for each individual library, but for each individual.” With RAD in place, ACLA was about to show how much more a library system could really be.

“The Allegheny County Library Association continues to be a great resource and asset for our residents. From Knowledge Connections to its Mobile Library Service, ACLA strives to serve all segments of our community in every corner of the County. I’m proud of all that ACLA has accomplished, and I look forward to its continued presence in our neighborhoods.” Dan Onorato Allegheny County Chief Executive “I am a strong believer in our libraries and the variety of services they offer to residents of all ages, ranging from Internet classes and tax programs to SAT assistance. The state must do everything possible to sustain our local libraries not only for these reasons, but also because they are certainly an extension of our education system, and benefit our children by supplementing what they learn during school.” Sean Logan Pennsylvania State Senator “Libraries are one of the fundamental building blocks of a strong community. Literacy and the love of reading are vital lessons for growing minds. ACLA and its affiliated libraries provide invaluable services to the communities they serve, especially to children and seniors. The wide variety of reading material, computer access and programming available free of charge at the library are an asset to Allegheny County and its residents.” John Pippy Pennsylvania State Senator

ACLA has been nationally

“I met these strangers one year ago. Now I have all these friends.”

recognized as a Center

PALS Book Club Member

of Excellence for Lifelong Learning by the Americans for Libraries Council. In addition to the ACLA/Highmark PALS book clubs, ACLA offers many other programs for seniors, supported by a dedicated Older Adult Forum composed of library professionals who are interested in building Older Adult programming and services at their libraries. The transformational power of libraries “Knowledge isn’t filling a page. It’s lighting a fire. The library lit a fire for me,” says disc jockey Johnny Hartwell. The library helped Johnny get started on a career as a DJ—at a time when he was struggling to get a job and raise his young family. Today, the library is opening up new worlds

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erving the unserved

Until ACLA,   libraries often struggled simply to stay alive. Now they’re all finding new ways to reach the communities they serve. Along with bringing more people to the library, ACLA finds more ways to bring the library to the people who need it most. Through Mobile Library Services, ACLA drives bookmobiles right into our communities. ACLA has extended this service across the entire county, as well as boosted service to under-served segments of the community such as pre-schools and senior centers. Seniors are one under-served audience that ACLA works hard to make better served. For example, to help seniors socialize and stay healthy, Highmark’s Randy Detweiler started a seniors book club called PALS. Seniors loved it. But as the program grew, so did the sheer mechanics of transporting books between clubs. Now that ACLA has partnered with Highmark, there are over 20 PALS clubs with more on the way. “We couldn’t have made this program as big by ourselves,” explains Randy. “Partnering made the program bigger, faster and easier. Plus it’s just more fun!” The AARP recently recognized the program with an Excellence Award. And, on the other side of the age spectrum, over 28,000 children participate in summer reading programs and activities for kids. A collection of books inside four walls is one thing. But in ACLA’s view, a library should break down the walls — and be a living, breathing part of its community.

for Johnny’s son with autism. Audio books have helped expand his son’s vocabulary, and also made him a lover of—what else for the son of a DJ?—old-time radio.

ACLA keeps finding new ways to bring the power of books and learning to everyone. Recently, ACLA helped establish after-school study centers at 13 homeless shelters.

“World-class community libraries must think strategically, creating benchmarks and evaluating best practices to build a best-in-class library system. That kind of excellence is what ACLA fosters.” Michael Kumer Executive Director, Duquesne University’s Nonprofit Leadership Institute

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A Sampling of ACLA Partnerships The “One Book, One Community” program brings our region

e-envisioning Until ACLA,

th e l i b r a r y

together — working with

l ibraries were simply a place for books. Now they’re becoming a “third place” beyond work and home.

Noble, Joseph Beth

Through county-wide cooperation, ACLA transformed our community’s libraries. Now ACLA is helping our libraries transform the community. Can reading a single book change a whole region? That’s the idea behind “One Book, One Community,” a program that encourages everyone in our region to read and discuss a single novel. Offered yearly, “One Book” even reaches homeless children and parents, through a partnership with the Homeless Children’s Education Fund. Reaching out to partner with community groups is one of the things ACLA does best — and often, as the sampling at right shows. Programs like these may not fit how people think about libraries. But that’s just the point. ACLA is re-defining what a community library is. Could the library be a place where you enjoy coffee and croissants with your prose? It could be — in ACLA’s vision of a library of the future called “Third Place” (the place beyond work and home).

ACLA’s “Third Place” envisions what libraries could become in the future—a comfortable, gathering place beyond work and home.

partners such as Barnes & Booksellers, Highmark, and Carlow University. Operas and symphonies come alive for families who might never afford them — through tie-ins with the Pittsburgh Opera and Pittsburgh Symphony. Seniors become lifelong learners with the help of ACLA Faculty — librarians who share their expertise in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Visionary concepts like “Third Place” will require visionary librarians and boards of directors to lead them. To meet this challenge, ACLA, together with the Nonprofit Leadership Institute, has created a leadership development program. Librarians and their Boards learn about attracting volunteers, strategic planning — even how to recruit new board members to mirror the diversity of their community. The program has become a model that’s studied nationwide.

Community programs

Where will the future lead us? ACLA has accomplished much in its short history, yet there are still many challenges to address. But our county’s libraries will not face these challenges alone. Because of ACLA, they will solve them by working together — using the same model of countywide cooperation that created our organization. And that transformed a quiet crisis into a model of success.

Institute on Aging.

help residents stay healthy — through classes from Working Hearts, LifeSpan, and the University of Pittsburgh’s Fathers become better dads — through programming offered by the National Fatherhood Initiative.

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 Libraries

O n e Sy s t e m ACLA Libraries

This brochure has been made possible by a generous grant from the Buncher Family Foundation.

Andrew Bayne Memorial Library Andrew Carnegie Free Library Avalon Public Library Baldwin Borough Public Library Bethel Park Public Library Braddock Carnegie Library Brentwood Library Bridgeville Public Library C.C. Mellor Memorial Library Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale Carnegie Library of Homestead Carnegie Library of McKeesport Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Clairton Public Library Community Library of Allegheny Valley Community Library of Castle Shannon Coraopolis Memorial Library Crafton Public Library Dormont Public Library F.O.R. Sto-Rox Library Green Tree Public Library Hampton Community Library Jefferson Hills Public Library Lauri Ann West Memorial Library Monroeville Public Library Allegheny County Library Association 22 Wabash Street, Suite 203 Pittsburgh, PA 15220 412.921.1123 412.921.0734 (fax) www.aclalibraries.org

Moon Township Public Library Mt. Lebanon Public Library North Versailles Public Library Northern Tier Regional Library Northland Public Library Oakmont Carnegie Library Pleasant Hills Public Library Plum Borough Community Library Robinson Township Library Scott Township Public Library Sewickley Public Library Shaler North Hills Library South Fayette Township Library South Park Township Library Springdale Free Public Library Upper St. Clair Township Library Western Allegheny Community Library Whitehall Public Library Wilkinsburg Public Library William E. Anderson Library of Penn Hills Other Library Service Outlets ACLA Mobile Library Services