Real people read your emails.

Have you ever sent an email to a large organization (perhaps your beloved public library) and wondered if anyone bothered to read it? Of course you have.
I’d like to assure you that if you write to the Film & Audio Department, someone will read your message (I know, since that someone is me). We have three different email accounts - it’s [...]

Rejected by the PMI, or form letters for the ages.

Recently, Kathie (illustrious manager of our Music Department) introduced me to our collection of bulletins, announcements, and programs from the Pittsburgh Musical Institute.
Among the 38 volumes of assorted stuff representing the years 1915 to 1955 is this gem of a rejection letter, from the 1948-49 school year.
If you’d like to learn more about the history of [...]

What’s a Digital Bookmobile?

On Monday, October 5th from 11:30 – 2:30, OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile will visit Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main.
 
But what exactly is a Digital Bookmobile?

According to OverDrive (and they should know), it’s a “high-tech update of the traditional bookmobile that has served communities for decades…equipped with broadband Internet-connected PCs, high-definition monitors, premium sound systems, and [...]

TMI about TMJ

Somehow I wasn’t surprised to have a flare-up of TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction) this month – I just spent $600 on car repairs, the library is in a financial crisis, my dad just had back surgery, the G-20 is coming to town, and so on and so on.
But what exactly is TMJ? Basically, it’s jaw, [...]

Unlikely Rare Books: Sailor Moon

Back when I started college and got my first credit card, I built a pretty impressive manga collection. But when I finished college and had to pay that credit card bill, I sold most of my books and only kept the sets that I thought were particularly nifty.
One of the things that I kept was [...]

How do you say “pass the popcorn” in Kurdish?

Among the many many wonders of the Film & Audio Department is our foreign language film collection. What started out a decade ago as four shelves of French, German, and Italian VHS tapes has expanded to twenty-nine shelves of VHS tapes and DVDs in fifty-nine languages.
So yes, we do have those Japanese samurai classics. And if you’re [...]

It’s in the details

If you look around our 100+ year old building, you’ll find all sorts of little surprises. Here are a few of my favorites.

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Take the time to really look around the building someday, and I guarantee that you’ll find something you’ve never seen before.
 
- Amy
 

Hey there, iPod users!

Have we got news for you – Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh now offers iPod compatible downloadable audio books! And there was much rejoicing!
To see what’s available, start at our downloadable audio books page, and choose either OverDrive or NetLibrary. 
Some of OverDrive’s new MP3 titles are listed at the top of their page – there’s also [...]

Early Film

If your library is across the street from a university with a film studies program and down the road from a large local media arts center, you just might have an unusually high demand for early films. And here in the Film & Audio Department, we’re all about meeting demand.
Of course we have Luis Bunuel’s surrealist classic Un [...]

Now that’s comedy!*

The Film & Audio Department contains a wonderful selection of stand up comedy on both DVD and book on CD. And conveniently enough, they share the same basic call number with the stand up comedy books: PN 1969.
We’ve got live people!
Rough Around the Edges - Audio and video clips from Dane Cook’s “Rough around the edges” tour from [...]