Lightning damages historic Carnegie building

The good news is that only the clock tower seems to have been seriously damaged. It happened after closing time, so no one was in the building. There are large pieces of stone around and inside the building, but no books or other library materials were damaged, according to library staff interviewed by Pittsburgh newspapers and television stations. Not even the grand Steinway piano in the lecture hall, just below the tower, was hit by rubble — apparently a really large chunk fell into the hall near the piano, but just missed it!

The library is closed, of course, for the time being. There’s a book drop for people to return their books to, and users are being encouraged to use other branches. (The library’s website lists the closest ones, and has a link for making donations toward the repairs.)

This building, now a branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system, was actually the first public library building built by Andrew Carnegie in the U.S. It was given to Allegheny City, Pa. — then a separate town, not yet part of Pittsburgh — and when it opened in 1890. President Benjamin Harrison spoke at the dedication. Carnegie had lived in Allegheny City as a boy, after immigrating from Scotland. A rich man in the neighborhood, James Anderson, had made his own private library available to working people in the area, and Carnegie, who had been a patron of that library, wanted to repay the gift.

The good news is that only the clock tower seems to have been seriously damaged. It happened after closing time, so no one was in the building. There are large pieces of stone around and inside the building, but no books or other library materials were damaged, according to library staff interviewed by Pittsburgh newspapers and television stations. Not even the grand Steinway piano in the lecture hall, just below the tower, was hit by rubble — apparently a really large chunk fell into the hall near the piano, but just missed it!

The library is closed, of course, for the time being. There’s a book drop for people to return their books to, and users are being encouraged to use other branches. (The library’s website lists the closest ones, and has a link for making donations toward the repairs.)

This building, now a branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system, was actually the first public library building built by Andrew Carnegie in the U.S. It was given to Allegheny City, Pa. — then a separate town, not yet part of Pittsburgh — and when it opened in 1890. President Benjamin Harrison spoke at the dedication. Carnegie had lived in Allegheny City as a boy, after immigrating from Scotland. A rich man in the neighborhood, James Anderson, had made his own private library available to working people in the area, and Carnegie, who had been a patron of that library, wanted to repay the gift.