The South Side Branch Collection consists of six series spanning from 1909 to 1989. The majority of the collection is made up of annual reports for the entire branch as well as annual and monthly reports for the branch's children's department. The collection also includes documents regarding branch hours and payroll issues, documents regarding budgeting, and various reports. Programming and special events materials and a series on newspaper articles regarding the branch are included in the collection. Documents relating to the branch's ties with the South Side community are also contained within the collection.
The bulk of the collection is the branch annual reports and children's department reports. There remain missing years and gaps within the collection. The branch annual reports from 1926 to 1936 are missing, and there are no reports after 1948. The children's department annual and/or monthly reports are present for every year between 1918 and 1925. There are no reports from 1926 to 1934, but there are reports for every year starting in 1935 and ending in 1989.
Arrangement
The materials have been separated into six series. Each individual series is arranged by year or subject. The first five series deal mainly with the branch as a whole and are arranged starting with the annual reports and ending with newspaper articles relating to the branch. The sixth series focuses entirely on the branch's children's department.
Biographical / Historical
The South Side Branch opened in 1909, the last of the Pittsburgh libraries to be built with funding from Andrew Carnegie. The library was erected at the corner of East Carson and 22nd Streets, and it remains in this location today. At the time of the branch's opening, the South Side was a major industrial center for the city of Pittsburgh. The library itself was located in the heart of the South Side with the Jones and Laughlin steel mill and the United States Glass Company both nearby.
Pittsburgh's South Side had a substantial immigration population during the early 20th century. This greatly affected the South Side Branch in that it had to acquire books in different languages such as Polish, German, Lithuanian, Italian, and Slovakian. The branch also had a large collection of technological and mechanical books since many of its patrons worked for the steel mill and other industrial companies.
The South Side Branch went through many different phases as it experienced the effects of industrialization, immigration, depression, war, and economic decline. For instance, the branch saw a dramatic increase in its circulation when many were unemployed during the Great Depression only to have an extreme drop in circulation during the economic boom of World War II. Although the library has witnessed both the decline and revitalization of the South Side, it has retained a strong presence in the community for over one hundred years.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
There are no use restrictions.
Custodial History
The materials were removed from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, South Side Branch and transferred to the William R. Oliver Special Collections Room.
Accruals
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, South Side Branch sends new materials to the Oliver Room on an irregular schedule.
Preferred Citation
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, South Side Branch, William R. Oliver Special Collections, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
