In 1970 Miss Elizabeth McCombs, librarian
for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, brought an idea for a reading room to be established in various Pittsburgh communities.
Five such places were opened in the Pittsburgh area, one of which was the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Reading Room located at 646 Herron Ave. at the corner of Herron Ave.
and Milwaukee St. in the Hill District.
Books, many by and about African Americans, stocked the shelves. Volunteers from
the community staffed the reading room. The use and added donations of reading
material outgrew the small space. During that time a "Friends" group was
organized by Mrs. Daisy Reed to support the reading room. The Friends along
with community residents met with representatives of the Carnegie Library
of Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh to suggest the building of a new
reading room on City owned land on Herron Ave.
In May 1988, a new building was erected on the City owned land and was dedicated
as a branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to be known as the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Reading and Cultural Center at 636 Herron Ave. Mrs. Daisy
Reed became its first librarian and served in that capacity until her retirement in 1999.
The MLK Reading and Cultural Center remained a branch of the Carnegie Library of
Pittsburgh until 2005. In September 2005 the Carnegie decided to close the MLK
branch based upon its proposal to build a new Hill District Branch. In
January 2006, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh
agreed to relinquish the building to the Board of Directors of the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Cultural Center, Inc.
On May 1, 2006, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Reading and Cultural Center opened
under the direction of the Board of Directors of the Martin Luther King,
Jr. Cultural Center, Inc.
The Center provides books, magazines, etc. that can be checked out with the
Center's own library card. The Center is currently in the process of
implementing reading and math coaches for children grades K-12, storytelling
hour for children, a community garden operated by children, OASIS computer
classes for seniors. There will be other types of programming in the future.