Study Says CLP May Need to Right Size

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh asked the RAND Corporation to study is income and spending and rand came back with a list of ideas. Chief among them was a right sizing of the system. Also near the top of the list was finding new revenue sources considering a merger of the more than 40 independent libraries in the county. Carnegie Library president Barbara K. Mistick says a merger would be very difficult. The Carnegie Library system has 19 branches and a $26 million budget. More than half of the budget comes from the Allegheny Regional Asset District. The district gets it’s funding from a sales tax, which is expected to slump in the soft economy. Funding from the state is also on the decline. Mistick said the Center for Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University will conduct such a right-sizing study within six months.