Community read projects can start conversations that otherwise might never take place.
The C.C. Mellor Memorial Library has been doing that for the first time this month and teaching its patrons and residents the story of the first paramedics in America, Freedom House Ambulance, that formed in 1967. The selected book, “American Sirens” by Kevin Hazzard, recounts the history of that service’s Black men and women recruited from the Hill District who saved lives and changed the course of emergency medicine around the world.
Thirty copies of the book are available at the library’s Edgewood and Forest Hills branches throughout the month, accompanied by a series of interactive activities, according to a library news release. To culminate the project, the library in partnership with WQED-TV has scheduled a special screening of “Freedom House Ambulance: the FIRST Responders,” a 2023 documentary on the trailblazing service, at 6 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Edgewood Club Living Room. A question-and-answer session with Freedom House emergency medical technician and retired assistant chief of Pittsburgh Emergency Medical Service John Moon and documentary director Annette Banks will follow.
The documentary won a regional Emmy from the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Erin Pierce, the library director, came up with the community read idea, and in August, the 10-member staff started planning it, according to development and communications coordinator Jorie Meil.
The community read fits the library’s mission, according to the news release and the library website: “Since 1918, C.C. Mellor Memorial Library has been committed to ‘educate, entertain and enlighten’ all members of our community from our historic building in Edgewood and our branch location in the Forest Hills borough building.” It serves Edgewood, Forest Hills, Churchill, Braddock Hills and Wilkins residents.
Meil said the library has been working officially with WQED since 2020, and they have held several programs together. For the community read portion, the library borrowed the Whitehall library’s supply of the book.
Pierce had read it, Meil said, because she is in touch with local authors and enjoys learning about local history. Pierce also knows not many Pittsburgh-area residents are familiar with Freedom House Ambulance and its role in paramedic history.
“Bringing folks from across the community together to read, talk about the same book and think about the same ideas at the same time is powerful,” Pierce said in the news release. “As a society, our news and entertainment sources are often individualized. Coalescing around one story, one idea, is compelling.”
Stay Gold Books, a new bookstore in Regent Square, also has copies of the book for purchase as part of a partnership with the library, Meil said.
Throughout all of October, the Edgewood and Forest Hills locations have interactive stations that connect readers with each other and the book’s material.
Melie said at Edgewood readers can share their favorite quotes from the book, placing them in a box in the children’s room. Other people can go through them and check the responses, she said. Library staff posts a question of the week on a bulletin board, asking if patrons knew about the topic beforehand or this part of Pittsburgh history. People post their responses right on the board. At the third station, visitors can write letters and notes in a binder that will be presented to Moon at the screening. The Forest Hills interactive station is a combination, with readers posting their favorite quotes from the book on a discussion board and writing in a similar binder for Moon.
Meil said the book has been popular and currently half of the books have been checked out.
She said the library staff knows from experience that it is difficult to bring people into the branches for programming, and the combination of the community read followed by the screening is a solution.
“People are really excited about the idea,” Meil said. “I’ve heard great conversations between people and people and staff. This is such an important part of Pittsburgh history that has been somewhat erased.”
The community read is something the library wants to continue. “It combines a love of reading and learning,” she said.
The documentary event is free, but online registration at ccmellorlibrary.org is requested due to limited space in the Edgewood Club Living Room. Light refreshments will be provided by the Edgewood Historical Society. The address for the library and the Edgewood Club is 1 Pennwood Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15218. The library staff can be reached at 412-731-0909.
Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Contact her at hfallon@unionprogress.com.