Irene Millen, founder of the Music Division of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.(Brief Article)(Obituary)

Irene Millen, founder of the Music Division of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, died in her home city 25 December 2000 at the age of 92. She worked for the Carnegie Library her entire professional life, starting at 16 as a library assistant for one of the busy neighborhood library branches. In those days she also had an active performing life as a pianist and accompanist, and came to be known in town as part of the brilliant young circle of local pianists, including Earl Wild and Byron Janis, educated at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Time was so precious to her that she did much musical memorizing on the long trolley rides that were a part of her daily routine.

In 1938, a group of musically prominent Pittsburgh citizens approached the director of Carnegie Library requesting that he consider the establishment of a music collection. He agreed and selected the thirty-year-old library assistant to be its initial organizer. She gathered together the music materials scattered throughout the library system and made them accessible to the public. When it became clear that the acquisitions budget for music would not meet the demands of the enthusiastic public, Irene harnessed that enthisiasm to found the Friends of the Music Library, with an administrative board comprised of representatives from every Pittsburgh musical organization. The Friends served both as fundraiser and as public relations resource for the music collection. "Have you tried the library?" was ...