As the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh continues to serve more and more people and to renovate its aging branches, it anticipates a sharp decline in government support, including a $1.6 million cut in 2010 with more to follow, library leaders warned yesterday.

Speaking beneath the "Free to the People" inscription at the library's Oakland headquarters, library board Chairwoman Jacqui Fiske Lazo and library President Barbara Mistick warned of tough financial times over the succeeding four years.

Ms. Mistick predicted a $6.1 million budget deficit by 2014 in an economic climate of declining revenue and rising expenses.

The library predicts it could have $1.6 million less to work with next year alone, she said. The cuts could be made by the county's Regional Asset District board and the state as government revenues decline.

RAD has "not made any decision to decrease funding for the Carnegie Library. In fact, we have taken a lot of time to try and do exactly the opposite," responded Executive Director David Donahoe yesterday.

"The commitment to libraries has not wavered," he added.

At the state level, while major cuts in library funding have been proposed, no new budget has been passed.

"We've reached a critical point in our operations and we simply can't afford to operate this way anymore," Ms. Mistick said.

The library has exhausted internal ways to trim its budget, she said, citing cuts this year in operating hours and freezes in salaries and hiring.

"At this point, we can do no more internally" to save money, she said. Next month, the library will hold a series of public forums to give citizens a chance to offer their ideas for savings and other sources of funding and to express support for its programs.

"We need to hear from the public. We know there are a lot of passionate people out there who want to help," Ms. Mistick said. "We will take those ideas to the board by September, and if they are approved, will implement them by the end of the year."

The library will announce locations and times for the meetings by month's end.

A preliminary projection of the library's costs and revenues for next year puts expenses at $24.3 million and funding at $21.1 million, for a $3.1 million deficit. That deficit will grow yearly, hitting $6.1 million in 2014, the library projects.

As Ms. Lazo and Ms. Mistick pointed out, the threatened revenue reductions come at a time when more than 2.6 million people used the library system last year -- up by a million from 1.6 million people served in 2004.

"The borrowing of books was the highest in 17 years," Ms. Lazo said, adding that 175,000 people used the library's various education programs, including 3,200 signing up for its summer reading series last week.

Also cited was a RAND Corp. study released in January that found the library employs 700 workers and provides an economic benefit of $3 for every $1 it spends.

Community libraries outside of the city of Pittsburgh also are eyeing their budgets. A change is being considered on the formula that determines distribution of RAD funds to 44 member libraries in the Allegheny County Library Association.

Under the formula enacted in 1994, libraries that received higher levels of municipal support received higher levels of regional asset funding. But the new proposal is designed to more evenly distribute about $5.6 million in RAD funding in 2010.