More than three years ago, a Trib Total Media rep gave the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall (ACFL&MH) the opportunity to advertise, for free, in the Signal Item’s “Big Flyer” insert. As the library doesn’t have an advertising budget, it was a great way for us to be featured regularly in the paper.
What a boon it has been for the library and music hall to be able to connect with Signal Item readers. You readers are the core of the “Carnegie Carnegie” community.
During my tenure here, I learned that the Signal Item — in various iterations — is the longest continually running weekly west of the Alleghenies. What an honor to have a voice in this publication.
In the Jan. 7, 1873, inaugural edition of the Mansfield Item, its publisher, the Rev. Charles Knepper, recommended that the recently incorporated Chartiers and Mansfield boroughs merge to become one. It happened 21 years later.
The Library & Music Hall was Andrew Carnegie’s legacy gift to the borough that incorporated to take his name on March 1, 1894. I don’t know what role Knepper’s suggestion played, but I feel the Carnegie Carnegie has a special affinity with this newspaper.
The ACFL&MH’s first contribution to the Trib’s “Big Flyer” was in March 2016, and its last in October of this year, as it is no longer published.
Our partnership with the Signal Item is critical, so I reached out to the newspaper’s editor, who agreed to a regular column. This is the first of what will be a biweekly column from the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, which we’re calling “Carnegie Carnegie Corner.”
We hope to reach people who haven’t experienced all that we have to offer. I frequently encounter first-time visitors — to the library, to music hall performances, to our rare Civil War room — who ask “Why didn’t I know about this?” Despite all our best efforts, the library and music hall remains too well-kept a secret.
This column, which will rotate among a few ACFL&MH staff, provides an opportunity for us to give readers a sense of what our 35,000-square-foot facility, our staff and our community partners offer: Civil War history; school and reading readiness tips; advance notice on terrific performances; book reviews; ESL classes, community history and happenings and more. We expect the column to evolve as the library evolves.
We won’t be able to cover the full range of services, programs and performances at the ACFL&MH, so visit CarnegieCarnegie.org to stay current. Or sign up for our monthly program e-blasts by calling me at 412-276-3456 ext. 8.
On behalf of the staff and board, I wish you and yours a joyful, safe holiday season, and to spend part of it with us.
Get a head start on New Year’s Eve with a Dec. 27 concert with legendary jazz drummer Roger Humphreys. Tickets to Music Hall and Studio performances make great holiday gifts. Then spend the 31st at home with loved ones, with DVDs and board games borrowed from the library.
Maggie Forbes is the executive director of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
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