Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is one of four Statewide Library Resource Centers designated by the Pennsylvania Library Code along with the Free Library of Philadelphia, the State Library of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State University Library. This program was established in 1961 as the Regional Resource Centers designated to acquire in-depth research collections and make them available to all residents of Pennsylvania.

For forty years Commonwealth Libraries provided financial support to these libraries to develop collections in specific subject areas. Carnegie Library’s subject responsibilities covered science, technology and business. In 2001, the program was revised and renamed Statewide Library Resource Centers. With increased state aid for the program, the focus of the resource libraries was expanded from specific collection areas to include: digitization of collections for Internet access, participation in Ask Here PA – online reference services, and direct borrowing by use of the Access PA library card, interlibrary loan and onsite use.

Expert professional librarians with the resources and services at these four libraries provide open access of their collections to support individual library customers, local community libraries and district library centers across Pennsylvania.