Five months after City Council approved the expenditure, the financially strapped Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is still waiting for a $640,000 grant intended to keep all library branches open through the end of the year.

Councilman Bruce Kraus, a library board member, said he has "grave concerns" about how the 19-branch library system will function without the money.

State Rep. Chelsa Wagner, D-Brookline, said her office has gotten "the runaround" when it asked city officials why the money hasn't been released.

"From my point of view it all points back to the mayor," Ms. Wagner said.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's office didn't respond to a request for comment Monday.

The $640,000 was part of $1.2 million in library aid city officials pledged last year.

In December, council approved an initial $600,000 grant, and Mr. Ravenstahl signed the bill into law. The city released the money in July, months later than Mr. Kraus and other council members expected.

In June, council approved a second, $640,000 grant to the library system.

However, Mr. Ravenstahl questioned the wisdom of allocating additional resources to the library given the city's own financial problems. He declined to support the bill, and it became law without his signature.

The library system is still waiting for that money. Mr. Kraus and Ms. Wagner said it's time for the city to pay up.

The city's deputy controller, Douglas Anderson, said his office is waiting for city finance officials to determine which account the money should come from. Though council approved the expenditure, Mr. Anderson said, the grant wasn't specifically included in the city's 2010 budget.

In June, Ms. Wagner and seven other state House members sent Mr. Ravenstahl a tart letter saying he hadn't lived up to the city's commitment to support the $1.2 million in stop-gap funding for the libraries.

They said the commitment was ironed out last November at a meeting that city, county, state and library officials held to forestall branch closures. The city's help was to ensure all branches remained open through 2010.

The library system is doing the best it can without the $640,000 and still hopes to keep all branches open through the end of the year, spokeswoman Suzanne Thinnes said. She said cost-cutting moves, such as a voluntary termination program and reduced hours at the Oakland branch, have helped this year.

The library also has made progress in increasing the number of donors, from 1,420 in 2002 to 5,081 last year, she said.

However, Ms. Thinnes said the library still anticipates a $1.7 million hole in its 2011 budget. She said a task force has been working on ways to shore up funding but hasn't yet issued a final report.

The city asked the Regional Asset District to increase library funding by $1.7 million, to $19.3 million, for 2011.

She said RAD indicated it could give about $350,000 more than its 2010 allocation of about $17.6 million. The library tentatively estimated 2011 expenses at $27 million.