News

April 21, 2026

Remake Learning Days to Kick Off May 1 in Southwestern PA

Remake Learning Days – which celebrates its 10th year in 2026 – will kick off on May 1 with hundreds of events across southwestern Pennsylvania, including a science-themed event at the Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center.

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The festival, which runs May 1 to 23 in southwestern Pennsylvania, currently lists more than 160 Allegheny County events on its website.

Some of the events include a science activity involving the weather at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, a chess tournament at the Urban Academy of Greater Pittsburgh, bracelet making at The Drawing Board Studios, an interactive sensory-friendly video game at Attack Theatre, hands-on STEM activities and telescope views at the Allegheny Observatory, exploring the Guyasuta Watershed in Fox Chapel, a Girls in Gaming summit at Carnegie Mellon University, and a robot-building activity for third graders hosted by the Shaler Area School District.

A full listing of events in Allegheny County can be found on the Remake Learning Days website. Events can also be found in other southwestern Pennsylvania regions as well as locations around the state.

Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center Event

The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center and the YMCA will present the Kamin Science Center’s new Mobil Planetarium during an event on Friday, May 15.

Attendees at the event will be able to take a journey through the stars in an inflatable, immersive planetarium experience. They will also be able to take part in a constellation craft.

There will be several shows between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the YMCA Homewood Brushton Branch, located at 7140 Bennett Street. The event, which runs until 7:30 p.m., also includes food and games between planetarium shows. Those interested in the event can register online.

About Remake Learning Days

Remake Learning Days is an innovative, national learning festival for youth and families that includes thousands of hands-on learning events for children of all ages at libraries, schools, tech centers, parks, museums, play spaces, community centers and more.

The festival’s activities are generally aimed at children between the ages of 2 and 17 as well as adults. These can include anything from building a robot to coding an art spinner, directing a film, making music, or doing scientific work.

News

November 25, 2025

Carnegie Library Card Holders Can Utilize Variety of Free Services

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a massive selection of books for children and their families, but library card holders can take advantage of a number of other services for free.

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A recent edition of Hey Pittsburgh’s newsletter cited six free things that Pittsburgh residents can get with their library card. The daily newsletter even created a podcast to discuss the activities.

Free activities and services listed by Hey Pittsburgh include:

Borrowing power tools from the Millvale Community Library, which has a collection of more than 1,000 hand and power tools for building, home maintenance, gardening, plumbing, car repairs, and bike tuneups
Digitizing photos and videos at the Recollection Studio’s DIY digitization lab in Oakland, which has hardware, software, and documentation to digitize VHS tapes, audio cassette tapes, documents, photographs, slides, and negatives
Borrowing bakeware from the Library of Things, which has an entire cooking and baking catalog where visitors can find everything from popcorn, ice cream, and waffle makers to holiday cookie cutters and cake pan shapes for themed birthday parties
Digging into family history at the main branch of the Carnegie Library in Oakland, which has a local history and genealogy section where visitors can book appointments to research their family tree through newspaper clippings going back to the early 1900s, a microfilm collection with census records and city directories, and books with instruction on cemetery research
Picking up a new hobby. Music lovers can borrow synthesizers, beatmakers, sequencers, effects pedals, recording equipment, and instruments. Sports and outdoor enthusiasts can check out pickleball and tennis racket sets, bocce ball, corn hole, and a fishing rod kit. Those who love the arts can access a wide variety of online crafting tutorials through Creativebug such as quilting, embroidery, bookbinding, sewing, and such tools as a pottery wheel.
Getting free or discounted tickets to a number of cultural attractions – such as the Carnegie museums, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Pirates games – with the RAD Pass.

Listen to the Hey Pittsburgh podcast to hear more about free activities that the Carnegie Library system offers.

News

August 19, 2025

Children’s Literacy Summit

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will host a Children’s Literacy Summit on Saturday, Sept. 27 at its CLP – Main branch in Oakland.

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Literacy organizations from the Greater Pittsburgh region will take part in the event to champion early literacy among young learners. It will bring together leaders, advocates, librarians, educators, caregivers, and anyone passionate about early literacy.

Attendees will explore strategies, share best practices, and spark conversations to empower children, from birth to age 8, through the joy of reading.

The summit will also include a Children’s Literacy Resource Fair, beginning at noon, where attendees can connect with local literacy organizations, discover valuable resources and services, and learn how to get involved to support early literacy efforts in the community.

The summit will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

News

July 22, 2025

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Offers Monthly Virtual Storytime

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will release a new Virtual Storytime every month on its website that also includes songs and activities.

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This month’s storytime discusses the library’s summer reading challenge, features two books, some book recommendations, two songs, and other activities.

The storytime, which also provides an option for captioning, starts with an introduction and is followed by the reading of Susan Stockdale’s “Line Up: Animals in Remarkable Rows.”

Then, viewers can follow a felt-board story and take part in a sing-a-long of “Clap and Sing Hello.” The second book during the storytime is “Papa’s Magical Water Jug Clock” by Jesus Trejo.

The second story is followed by a song involving egg shakers and the storytime closes out with a goodbye.

At the end of the video, children and their caregivers are given two book recommendations for those who enjoyed the selections read during the virtual storytime – Joshua David Stein’s “Solitary Animals: Introverts of the Wild” and Hannah Eliot and Jade Orlando’s “Who Takes Care of You?”

To view the monthly virtual storytime, visit the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s website.

News

July 11, 2025

Carnegie Library: Extravaganza

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Main (Oakland) branch will host its outdoor Summer Reading Extravaganza in August that will include storytelling, music, crafts, food trucks, and more.

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The event will include an interactive presentation by award-winning author Antwan Eady on his book “Nigel and the Moon.” Free copies of the book will be distributed to attendees and a Q&A will follow the presentation.

A National Aviary expert will present “Amazing Adaptations,” during which children will be able to discover a bird’s unique characteristics and explore bio facts, such as feet, feathers, and beaks.

Puppets for Pittsburgh will present “Aesop’s Fables,” a puppet show made entirely from things discarded by libraries.

SQUONK will create an outdoor spectacle by fusing fantastical visual design, playful staging, and original music. SQUONK’s “Brouhaha” performance brings audiences together for a celebration of humankind and our peculiar world.

Other activities and attendees include Animal Friends, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Mad Science, Moonshot Museum, Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library, Reading Ready Pittsburgh, and various other organizations, food trucks, and businesses.

The event runs from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 10.

For more information, visit the Extravaganza website.

News

B is for Bookbash

The Carnegie Library of Homestead will host storytimes and other activities during its B is for Bookbash on Saturday, Aug. 23.

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The event, which runs from noon to 3 p.m. on Aug. 23 at 510 E. 10th Ave., will include activities for all ages.

Attendees will be able to take part in snacks, crafts, storytimes, games, a photo booth, book giveaways, and face painting.

News

May 23, 2025

Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books to Host Authors, Workshops on May 31

The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books will celebrate the city’s literary community and draw poets, authors, and readers to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

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The festival features local and nationally-recognized authors, poets, children’s activities, bookstores, entertainment, and publishers.

Participating authors include Rachel Khong, Torrey Peters, and Sharon G. Flake, while poet Judy Collins will also be in attendance. The festival also offers a variety of children’s programming, including story time events and workshops.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 31. It will take place at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, located at 4400 Forbes Ave.

Registration, which is now open for the festival, secures a spot at any program. The book festival’s dinner, which will run from 6 p .m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 30, has also opened registration.

More information on the headlining authors, adult programming, children and young adult programming, workshops, and panels is available on the festival’s website.

News

May 19, 2025

Carnegie Library Launches Summer Reading Challenge

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has opened registration for its citywide summer reading challenge that includes events and prizes.

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Flights of Imagination, the library’s summer reading challenge, calls for participants to read at least five books after registering and entering to win prizes. Each book that a participant logs after their fifth earns them a chance to win a variety of prizes, including:

$25 gift card
Gift baskets
Toniebox and four characters
KiwiCo 12-month membership
Nintendo Switch
Pittsburgh Zoo family membership
Beats headphones

More information on which age group is eligible to win the various prizes can be found on the summer reading challenge’s prizes page.

The library will host a series of summer reading kickoff events in June that include face painting, an owl-related event with Allegheny County park rangers, Hosanna House’s Center for Aviation Technology & Training, and an animal visit at the National Aviary. The dates, times, and locations for all of the kickoff events can be found on the library’s website.

To register for the summer reading kickoff, participants must:

Create an account or log in with an existing Beanstack credentials and update the details. Those who cannot remember their password should call 412-622-3114.
Log summer reading and keep track of reading progress.
Log reading online in the Beanstack website or on its tracker app on a phone.

For more information, visit the library’s website.

News

March 4, 2025

Public Source: Tutoring Program Makes Reading Fun to Bridge Literacy Gap

An initiative of the Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania (LDA) is incorporating everything from movement to sandboxes and balls to make reading fun and, in the process, bridge the literacy gap for low-income students, Public Source wrote in a recent report.

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The LDA’s reading intervention initiative is divided into two programs:

Early literacy tutoring, which offers group learning for children who need help reading between kindergarten and second grade
One-on-one reading intervention for students of any age

State and city statistics show that the LDA initiative is needed. Pennsylvania fourth graders who were kindergarteners at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic scored lower in reading than fourth graders in 2019, Public Source reported. And third-grade reading proficiency is at 46.2% – which is 1.6% lower than last year – in Pittsburgh Public Schools’ largest school district.

A Multi-sensory Approach

LDA’s reading programs use a multi-sensory approach that incorporates visual, auditory, and kinesthetic senses to aid reading, Public Source reported.

Students in Taylor Erickson’s class at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Hill District branch take part in “sky-writing.” They are encouraged to stand up, wiggle their bodies, and use their arms like pencils to trace letters.

For more information on the LDA initiative, which provides free tutoring for both reading programs, read Public Source’s story.

News

February 3, 2025

The Buzzword Is USEFUL

As part of its programming, Buzzword distributes its signature “BUZZ Boxes” to local families to help excite children from birth to age five as well as their caregivers about new words that are all around them. These family engagement kits come complete with a high-quality children’s book and enriching activities that support early literacy skills and development.

This month’s Buzzword is USEFUL, which means to be used for a practical purpose. Buzzword’s USEFUL Activity Book will give children – ages birth to five – and their caregivers the opportunity to connect through science, art, music, and early literacy activities.

Caregivers are encouraged to read through Lou by Breanna Carzoo with their child. Then, they should go through the different activities and ideas together, taking time to explain the meaning of the words and connecting them to their child’s real-life experiences.

Buzzword has also provided a USEFUL book list of recommendations from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for further reading.

View the USEFUL Activity Book and book recommendations.

More Information

Want to learn more on how to get involved with Buzzword? Ask your local Allegheny County Family Center about the program, or email buzzword@tryingtogether.org.