Any Volunteers?

The Music Department is very lucky to have a long line of dedicated and diverse volunteers. They have provided us with helpful and valuable services throughout the years. Our volunteers range widely in age, interest and talent, from high school kids to retirees, including superb interns from the Pitt Library School. In recognition of National Volunteer Week (April 21-April 27), I would like to highlight some of the projects from the past and present that volunteers have undertaken in this department.

• The Oral History of Music in Pittsburgh (OHMP) collection consists of over 300 interviews conducted by a long-time Music Department volunteer
• The Pittsburgh Archival Material collection contains many finding lists created by a particularly extraordinary volunteer
• The input of information from card catalogs onto computer files to be made into online indexes
• Helping with our semi-annual music sale
• Laminating, repairing, and re-creating CD covers
• Checking inventory lists for missing, misshelved, or miscoded library materials
• Creating shelf signs with call numbers to help navigate the narrow volumes of scores

Shelf tags help!

No task is too small or too large for our volunteers to handle!

If you are interested in volunteering at the library, please see this link: Volunteering at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

-Joelle

A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit. — Greek Proverb

Homage to The World’s Best Boss

Kathie Logan – photo by a CLP staff member

     I started life at Carnegie Main as a page for the Music and Art Dept. I was somewhat intimidated by the elegant head of the department, the illustrious Kathie Logan. I would have a full truck of books at the page desk, (which was in a corner of the room that now houses our circulating music scores) and blithely peruse the beautifully illustrated art books and thumb through and hum to the music scores. When Kathie passed by, I would hasten to close the book, and resume my sorting. I felt she “caught” me looking at the books and not working. A few years later, when I was being interviewed for Library Assistant, Kathie brought up this very thing.  She gave me the position, in part, because going through those books indicated my genuine interest in the subjects.

     Later on, I was heavily involved in a somewhat successful band. We had many out of town gigs, in places like Philly, DC, and Cleveland, and had week-long tours to further cities like Boston, NY, and even to Toronto and Montreal, our furthest foray. Kathie not only accommodated my band schedule, she was delighted by our adventures. I never had to worry about a conflict with work. She was fascinated by my recounts of our escapades as a young band on the go.

     After I had children, I had to put my energy into a “real” career. Off to library school I went. Kathie was my sounding board on many school projects, and steered me to an internship in an area I truly enjoy. Her guidance and knowledge helped me define my career goals in innumerable ways.

     Kathie has been my boss and mentor for the last 16 years. She has always given me projects that make the most of what I am good at doing, and that interest me as well. Never a micromanager, she is always someone I am eager to please.  She outlines what she wants done and leaves me to it, giving insightful, spot-on observations along the way. Her keen eye, her extensive knowledge of the subject, and her memory have been at the center of the Music Department for 27 years. She has witnessed some of my Rites of Passage (marriage, childbirth), and now I witness one of hers, retirement. 

     We will surely miss you here, Kathie! May you have a relaxing yet fulfilling retirement. Come and visit us from time to time!

—Joelle