Misplaced priorities have been on people's minds lately. That can happen when news of Pittsburgh being named America's No. 1 Sports City arrives just as the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh gets set to close five of its 19 branches.

A $1.2 million deficit is the reason branches in Beechview, Lawrenceville, the West End and Hazelwood may close, and the Knoxville and Carrick branches may merge.

"Maybe the Carnegie Library trustees should just threaten to move the library to Cleveland," Fran Bertonaschi of Hazelwood wrote. "That would no doubt generate millions in support."

Don Walker of Morningside wondered sarcastically why the library doesn't sell naming rights.

"Carnegie has gotten a century of pub and, since he left nothing for maintaining [the libraries], I think that's enough," Walker said. "The guy was the king of the robber barons anyway. The more I think of it, why not?"

Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, thinks the money to save these libraries could come from table games in the casinos-- and he's as serious as a history book club.

"I am committed to making sure these closings do not happen," said Mr. Ferlo, whose three-county district includes Lawrenceville.

He and other legislators from Allegheny County are exploring the possibility of dedicating some gaming money.

That particular pot has been sliced like a deli ham. But as casino money already has been used in a roundabout way to support public schools via property-tax relief for homeowners ("slots for tots!"), it seems fitting that a slice from the more challenging card games go toward libraries ("baccarat for books!").

Mr. Ferlo has asked Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to lead this effort, and mayoral chief of staff Yarone Zober said the mayor likes the idea. Mr. Ravenstahl has, however, asked for a closer look at the library budget, and he'd like to hear the individual costs of keeping each branch open.

That is not something Barbara Mistick, library director and president, will give because she fears pitting one branch against another.

"A lot of elected officials want to save one branch," she said.

The board is looking for a systemwide solution and doesn't want a situation where neighborhoods capable of raising big dollars win and less prosperous neighborhoods lose. That's not what a library is supposed to be about.

That's a fair point but, right now, less prosperous neighborhoods are losing their branches while the main library, the Squirrel Hill branch and others merely lose hours.

Without changes, Dr. Mistick said, that $1.2 million deficit is predicted to grow to $6 million in five years. Regional Asset District money has plateaued. The library needs a source that grows over time.

"This is what our system needs if we want 19 branches," she said.

Closing branches is the wrong message to send to city neighborhoods that are coming back. Mr. Ferlo sees younger families moving into Lawrenceville. When he got behind the library's fund drive for expansion and construction, he never thought it would be "at the expense of what we have."

We're in a recession, he said, but the question should be "How do we grapple with that harsh reality?" not "How do we close major amenities?"

Dozens of people packed into the Lawrenceville branch on Saturday in a hastily called rally. Chuck Staresinic shared an e-mail he'd sent to friends and neighbors beforehand:

Those who want to close the library "should have to come here, to this room where kids have learned to read since 1890-something," Mr. Staresinic wrote. "And you should have to explain that all of that will now stop."

Tell that, he said, to the kid who asks, "Why should you keep a library open for more than 100 years and then close it when I come along?"

Our paramount civic task in Pittsburgh is to find a way to keep -- we needn't add to -- all the civic treasures worth keeping. That's all. A region with the resources for new stadiums, a hockey arena and a casino can find a way to maintain its libraries. It's a question of will.