A controversial choice when he was appointed director of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in December 1998, Herbert Elish yesterday announced his resignation after launching a multimillion-dollar upgrade of library facilities.

"Quite simply, the wish to be with our family, all of whom live [in New York City] overwhelms all other considerations," Elish, 70, explained in his resignation letter.

Elish gave no departure date for him and his wife, Eloise Hirsch, former city planning director, to return to New York.

"We both intend to continue our work on public issues and in public institutions" there, he said.

In an interview yesterday, Elish said he felt "this is a reasonable time for this to happen. Everything's falling in place for our capital campaign and as long as I'm here, I'll do whatever is necessary to continue what we have achieved and build on it.

"It will be a pretty long transition."

Elish said he was sad to leave Pittsburgh, not only for his love of the library, but for the many friendships he's made over the years.

His appointment replacing the late Robert Croneberger raised eyebrows because Elish was a businessman with no experience in running a library.

He was previously head of the former Weirton Steel in Weirton, W.Va., now part of Cleveland International Steel Group.

"The risk we took in hiring somebody with a business degree has paid off in spades," said Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Lucchino, chairman of the library's executive committee and a member of the panel that selected Elish.

"Librarians are wonderful, but they are not business people. The creative financing approach he brought is the kind of talent we desperately needed at the time."

Under Elish, the library launched a $60 million capital campaign based on a combination of Regional Assets District funds and bond issues.

So far, it has raised $25 million and spent nearly all of it upgrading the Main Library and several aging branches.

The crown jewel of the effort was unveiled last week when the $4 million renovation of the 109-year-old Oakland facility was opened to the public.

Branches in the upgrade program are Homewood, Brookline, Squirrel Hill and Woods Run while facilities in new rental spaces are being opened in Hazelwood and Downtown.

"Herb Elish brought a different perspective to the library," said David Donohoe, executive director of the RAD board.

"He thought libraries should be customer-friendly and brought those ideas directly to the library staff and to the operations."

Donohoe said Elish was successful in persuading the RAD board to assure a 25-year appropriation of $1 million each year to borrow money long-term through bonds.

"He was sure that the library could attract more users if it were more comfortable and easier to use and now it seems the physical improvements are paying off. More people are borrowing books and more people are getting library cards," said Donohoe.

Library figures show circulation up 79 percent at Homewood, 42.4 percent at Brookline and 52.9 percent at Hazelwood this year.

In looking for Elish's successor, Lucchino said, "We should give serious consideration to anybody else who holds his credentials.

"We need somebody to continue this business-like approach in times like these when the pool of funds available to us continues to shrink," he added, mentioning cutbacks in state funding and the modest $40,000 city contribution which has not changed since the library was built.

"I was happy to see Herb join the library and I'll be sad to see him go," said Lucchino. "When we hired him, he said he'd be here for three or four years. Now he's still here and I'd wish he would stay, but I understand his desire to spend time with his family.

"We'll continue to go ahead with the capital campaign," Lucchino said, "and the library will live happily ever without Herb."

A native of Brooklyn, Elish moved to the region in 1987. His business career, which included top posts at the Dreyfus Corp. and International Paper, was launched after a long career in public service.

He served in the Kennedy administration, ran the sanitation department of New York City in the early 1970s and was the first director of the Municipal Assistance Corp., which oversaw the finances of a then-bankrupt New York City.