The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh plans to move its Downtown branch from The Library Center on Wood Street to a four-story building at 610 Smithfield St. that is undergoing a major renovation.

	Main site restores some programs The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will resume Sunday hours at its main Oakland location, starting March 14. The library also will restart some of its outreach programs, such as Head Start and day-care, and those for senior citizens. The Carnegie Library cut back services after the state reduced funding in July 2003 by $2.4 million. Herb Elish, director of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, said yesterday: "We are gratified the state Legislature and the governor have restored a portion of funding for libraries, which has permitted these service improvements. However, our funding from the state is still $1.8 million or 38 percent below previous levels, which prevents us from restoring more of the services we curtailed last July." To save money, the library system reduced spending on new materials by 10 percent, or about $300,000, Elish said. The system also eliminated Sunday hours at its main location and Squirrel Hill branch, which has since closed for renovation.

The library branch would then be located in the same building that houses Brooks Brothers, which also is renovating its store.

Herb Elish, director of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, emphasized that a proposed 10-year lease, with renewable options, has not been signed yet.

"We expect that it will happen, but we don't have the documents and the agreement yet," Elish said yesterday.

The move would save the Carnegie Library $300,000 to $400,000 a year, Elish said.

The Carnegie Library would open at its new Smithfield Street location in September, Elish said, adding that the architectural firm of Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, Architects & Engineers, is in the early stages of designing the new branch's space.

The library branch would be on the building's first floor and lower level and occupy about 12,500 square feet, he said.

The lower level would house a business library as well as The Foundation Center, where people could learn about nonprofit groups and foundations. The new location also would have a meeting room that accommodates 50 people, Elish said.

The new branch would occupy far less space than the 60,000 square feet the Carnegie Library shares and operates jointly with Point Park University at its present Wood Street location, known as The Library Center.

The building at 610 Smithfield, which is owned by the Oakland-based McKnight Group, is undergoing major renovations, including installations of a new heating and cooling system, new windows and restrooms and the creation of a new, wood-paneled entrance for the building's office lobby.

"It wasn't being rehabbed until we started talking to them," Elish said.

Bill Rudolph of The McKnight Group could not be reached for comment this week and referred questions to John Markey of The Huntley Group, who did not return calls.

The library, Elish said, will have a separate entrance.

"We are in the process of doing the design work and Burt Hill is doing the work for us in the library," he added.

Virginia Frizzi, a spokeswoman for Point Park University, said the school will continue to own and use The Library Center and has hired a library consultant to advise school leaders on how best to use the space.

"We can't fill it all with books. There is a lot of useful space," Frizzi said, adding that university leaders are still deciding whether to use it for classrooms or meeting rooms or a combination of the two. The Library Center also houses the G.R.W. Theater.

The Carnegie Library had a joint operating agreement with Point Park to run The Library Center.

"We had essentially provided the library services in terms of acquisition of books and other materials, purchasing, cataloging, labeling, computers and Internet service for the college community. They had access to the public library catalog.

"We have offered to continue that for them as long as they pay our costs to do that. We're in conversations with them now about that," Elish said.

The Library Center, formerly known as The Bank Center, once housed a bank. The building was given to Point Park by Edward Ryan.

In the 1990s, Point Park officials raised money to convert the structure into a library and the renovation cost about $8.5 million in public and private funds. The Library Center opened in May 1997.

"We knew that our students would have uninterrupted library service through the academic year," Frizzi said, adding that she expects the library to begin moving out in June.

The move makes financial sense, Elish said.

"It was a very expensive place to run a library," he said.

The Squirrel Hill branch, which recently closed for renovations, costs about $600,000 a year to run, Elish said, and The Library Center cost more than twice that to operate.

"It's because the building wasn't designed to be a library. ... The space is chopped up," Elish said.