Andrew Carnegie established more than 2,500 libraries around the world, and his libraries in Pittsburgh were the first. The Main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh was Andrew Carnegie’s original library gift to the City of Pittsburgh, and it shared space with the Carnegie Institute’s museum. It was dedicated on November 5, 1895 by Mr. Carnegie himself. We still share our building with the Carnegie Museums and there are windows in our stacks that look out over the museum’s Dinosaur Hall. Visitors can see steel beams stamped with the name “Carnegie” that came directly from his steel mills. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system now consists of our Main building and nineteen additional branches throughout the city, and hosts 2.9 million visitors each year.
