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Monday, March 10, 2003

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Here's a floor-by-floor look at the planned reorganization at Carnegie Libary in Oakland:

First Floor

The Children's Department will offer books, audiovisual materials and programs for infants to age 11. The department was refurbished in 1996 and is not part of the current renovation project.

The Popular Library will feature high-demand titles, new and classic fiction and nonfiction, best sellers, genre fiction, magazines, large print, cooking, African-American, home and how-to, public affairs, biography, travel and new and featured audiovisuals with a listening/viewing area.

This space also will feature a coffee bar, comfortable seating, an outdoor deck and a new public elevator that meets requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act. An expanded teen area will offer recreational reading material and electronic resources in a space uniquely designed with teens in mind. Public restrooms will be renovated and made ADA compliant. ADA access from the outside to the first floor to the main library will be upgraded.

Second Floor

Reference and nonfiction will combine. A single information desk will serve all subjects -- humanities, social sciences, music, art, science and technology. Telephone, virtual and e-mail reference services will be centralized in one space.

Public collections will be arranged in sequence of their Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal System numbers. Two additional stack areas will be opened to the public. A large department will feature all of the adult audiovisual media, adjacent to the nonfiction collections. A consumer health collection will be provided.

Third Floor
(services relocated from the first and second floor)

The Pennsylvania Department will cover local history and genealogy. The Microfilm Unit Job and Career Education Center PC Center will offer public training classes on computer resources and programs.

The Foundation Center was relocated to the Library Center, Downtown, in October.