Marian the Librarian would have thrown herself in front of that Wells Fargo wagon if she had seen what transpired Wednesday at the main branch of the Carnegie Library in Oakland.

	Lake Fong, Post-Gazette
	Judge Frank Lucchino with Eloise Hirsch and Herb Elish

More than 700 guests roamed noisily through the library, eating sushi and Dijon shrimp, drinking champagne, listening to the fabulous Etta Cox perform, and talking, talking, talking! Not a single librarian said, "Quiet, please," either. After all, the gala "premiere" of the library's $4.1 million renovation was something to celebrate.

The venerable old halls are now gleaming white, with newly opened arches and electronic displays that recommend books, suggest resources and even advise asking a librarian for help. The Crazy Mocha Cafe serves coffee and desserts that can be carried around while you browse! An indoor-outdoor reading deck provides a cool retreat and more than 300 magazine titles to peruse, while a teen area has CDs to borrow, groovy chairs and vast numbers of computers loaded with multi-media production software. A quiet reading room, new and featured book collections and a film and video area complete the first-floor renovation and will win so many fans that the Library Shop should have them queueing up for those logo items. In short, it's not the same old library anymore.

Credit library director Herb Elish (with wife Eloise Hirsch) for the vision and ambition it has taken to tackle updating the far-flung library system, which is now a separate entity from the museum. With its own foundation headed by Jacqueline Flanagan and a mission to revitalize all of its neighborhood libraries, it's gratifying to see what the future is going to look like.

Many of the guests hadn't been in the library for years, if ever, while others had practically grown up in the stacks. They seemed unanimous in their appreciation of the changes and for the importance the library places on reading in a world that competes so aggressively for leisure time and young minds. The women who helped to make it happen for the library -- Dallas DiLeo, Sheila Jackson and Karen Rossi -- stood by excitedly as guests entered. "We've already had two requests to hold weddings here," beamed branch manager DiLeo. Judge Frank Lucchino (with Bobbi), chairman of the trustees executive committee, welcomed guests, along with Holly Buffinton and Eva Blum of PNC, which sponsored the opening affair.

Down the red-carpeted entrance came literary characters, including Scarlett O'Hara and Pinocchio, as well as many donors, trustees, corporate partners and friends. Enjoying Michael Lench's splendid spread of foods stationed throughout the library were Mayor Tom Murphy, the project architects led by Gary Carlough of Edge Studio, Dan Griffin, chair of the ARAD board (a major funder), Jacqui Fiske Lasko, Henry Hillman, Marcia Gumberg, Danny and Barbara Shapira, Sally Levin, Audrey Brourman, Bill Kolano, Carol Robinson, Ralph Horgan, Leonard Perfido, Rick Landesberg (who designed the great exterior signage), Ellen Roth, Chuck and Judy Perlow, the PG's Diana Block, Ron Wertz, Kristin McMahon, Dr. Brack and Jean Anne Hattler, Debby Dodds, Brooks and Jean Robinson, Sherm McLaughlin, Bunny Buncher, Ann Wardrop, Ceci Sommers, Jayne Adair and Basil Cox, John and Susie Wean, Ron and Judy Davenport, Pat and Alan Siger, Sibby and Duff McCrady, Mary Cerrone and Kevin Wagstaff, Nathan Schwartz and emcee Sally Wiggin.