Pittsburgh City Council unanimously voted yesterday to allocate $600,000 to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system, in advance of a Dec. 14 meeting of the library Board of Trustees that could postpone the planned closing of four branches and the merger of two others.

Also yesterday, the Allegheny Regional Asset District Board voted to hire Parente Beard LLC of Pittsburgh to conduct a special audit of the library at a cost not to exceed $70,000.

Board members said they want the firm to determine whether the closings, if made, would resolve the library's financial woes long term.

The firm has told RAD that it would take four to six weeks tocomplete the audit.

The $600,000, meanwhile, comes from a fund the city uses to pay for vehicle fuel. A dip in fuel prices has left that fund with excess cash, which Council President Doug Shields eyed as a temporary fix for the library's budget gap.

The library trustees voted Oct. 5 to close the Beechview, Hazelwood, Lawrenceville and West End libraries, merge the Carrick and Knoxville branches, and move the Mount Washington branch from Grandview Avenue to Virginia Avenue.

On Nov. 23, library officials met with city, Allegheny County and state officials to work out a solution involving the prompt transfer of $600,000, potentially another infusion of around the same amount next year, and a search for sustainable funding for future years. In return, library leaders will recommend that the trustees postpone the closings.

Yesterday, the library system announced a series of public forums on the funding challenges. The forums will be held in Hazelwood at 6:30 tonight at Keystone Church; in Beechview, at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Beechview United Presbyterian Church; in Lawrenceville at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the library branch there; and in the West End at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at that branch.

The system will also hold a public forum at 4 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Lecture Hall of the main branch in Oakland. Those wishing to speak must register by 5 p.m. on Dec. 11 by calling 412-622-1871 or e-mailing to director@carnegielibrary.org.

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