 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Boy, 9, speaks volumes to board; his bookmobile plea highlights RAD hearing
Tuesday, October 23, 2001 By Marylynne Pitz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
His mother spoke first, but Timmy Redenbaugh stole the show last night when he pleaded for $825,000 in funding to keep five bookmobiles on the move in 24 Allegheny County communities.
Dressed in a blue striped shirt, green slacks and tennis shoes, the 9 1/2- year-old boy told members of the Regional Asset District board why the service is so important.
"A bookmobile is a great place to go. I started out not liking to read when I was a kid. We got books I was interested in," he said, adding that before his family took a trip to California, he read books about the gold rush in that state.
"Once, I didn't like to read. Now, I love it," Redenbaugh said during a hearing where RAD board members listened to pleas from 40 organizations requesting additional funding.
The boy's statement elicited applause from an audience of 50 people. Joyce A. Baskins, a member of the RAD board, urged him to send his statement to Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey.
County officials indicated in August that they were eliminating funding for the bookmobile fleet for next year and said that the cost should be picked up by the Regional Asset District.
Gerald J. Voros, another RAD board member, urged the Redenbaughs to contact Allegheny County Council. He also vented frustration with Roddey.
"Jim Roddey didn't even have the courtesy to tell us," that the county would stop funding the bookmobiles. Then, the controversy landed in the RAD board's lap.
"It makes us look bad," Voros said.
Alana Redenbaugh, who home schools her children in Elizabeth Township, said the family regularly visits the bookmobile in Port Vue.
Initially, she said, her son was a "reluctant reader."
Redenbaugh was advised to find books that interested her son. At the bookmobile, they found books about stink bugs, volcanoes, hermit crabs and the Titanic.
Last year, Redenbaugh said, her son read 228 books in addition to his regular school books.
"I feel like my son reads because of the bookmobile, Redenbaugh said, her voice cracking slightly with emotion.
The Redenbaughs were among eight Allegheny County residents who urged the Regional Asset District board to pick up the funding for the bookmobiles.
For 40 years, Allegheny County provided funding for the bookmobiles. But when county officials decided to discontinue the funding, the seven-member RAD board, which allocated $23.6 million to 43 libraries in the county, balked at picking up the additional cost.
Voros said he favors libraries and bookmobiles, but questioned the fairness of the formula the Allegheny County Library Association uses to distribute RAD funds.
Voros said the association's formula favors affluent communities such as Mt. Lebanon and Sewickley, which can spend more on their libraries and afford to keep them open longer.
Marilyn Jenkins, executive director of the Allegheny County Library Association, did not appear before the board and could not be reached for comment last night.
Since the RAD board began giving money to the library association in 1995, its funding has risen from $5 million to $6.9 million for this year. The library association is slated to receive $7.04 million for 2002.
Daniel Price Jr., a war veteran from Elizabeth, and Neal Musmanno, a retired Pitt professor from Stowe, said they use bookmobiles regularly.
Musmanno, a World War II veteran, said he lost some of his hearing in the war while serving on a destroyer that eliminated the last German submarine in the conflict. Now, he regularly borrows books on tape.
Several other groups also appeared before the board to ask for more funding.
Gideon Toeplitz, managing director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, thanked the board for allocating $700,000, but asked for an additional $50,000 so the orchestra can continue to educate underprivileged children.
Cecile Springer, a trustee of The Carnegie, said the museum needs $500,000 for overhauling a freight elevator that is 100 years old, updating electrical power switches at six substations, rebuilding two cooling towers, replacing rotting wooden floors and installing air conditioning in Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.
Voros recalled that a decade ago, The Carnegie raised money in a capital campaign to pay to install air conditioning in the music hall. Voros said he contributed money for that purpose but later authorized the museum to use the money for other expenses.
"I don't know that RAD should pay to air condition the hall. They talked about that 10 years ago," Voros said.
|
||||||||
