Library post office closes doors today, for good

If you have a package to mail or stamps to buy in Oakland today, don’t count on using the post… If you have a package to mail or stamps to buy in Oakland today, don’t count on using the post office inside the Carnegie Library after 3:30 p.m.

The Carnegie Library has cancelled its contract with the United States Postal Service, and the station will close for good.

Since the late 1980s, the station has operated within the Carnegie Library under a contract with the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. A contract station does not offer the full services of a regular post office. For example, it does not ship packages weighing more than two pounds, does not carry international money orders, and does not accept credit cards. But they deliver the basic services of a post office.

And people use it.

“I come here all the time,” Pitt employee Linda Hicks said. “At least twice a week.”

According to Lane Cigna, the Carnegie Library’s communications manager, the decision to close the office was difficult, but it needed to be done for financial reasons.

“The United States Postal Service subsidized 10 percent of operating costs for this contract station. This means that the bulk of the operating costs were borne by two non-profit organizations: the library and the museums.”

Employee Linda Kregor, who said she learned about a week ago that the station would close today, does not think that budgetary constraints warrant such short notice, nor does she think these cuts are necessary.

“I think it really stinks, because we provided a great customer service,” Kregor said. “I think they could have made cuts somewhere else.”

At least four business establishments near Pitt’s campus, as well as at least one on campus, conduct postal services that range from handling changes in addresses to sending global express mail. And with USPS’s online services like “click and ship,” customers in Oakland will still have a range of opportunities to use postal services.

“Although we recognized the convenience,” Cigna said, “it was determined, after much consideration, that there were multiple locations nearby, and the actual service was not an integral part of either institution’s mission.”

The decision to close this contract station comes as a shock to Kregor and her coworker, Laverne Taylor. Now, the two, who have been working together for nine years, will confront abrupt unemployment after dedicating nine and 20 years, respectively, to the station.

“We’re gonna look at unemployment,” Kregor said, adding that the administrators said they had searched for jobs for her, but that they weren’t successful.

“We’re not happy at all. Everybody’s really upset,” she added.