Sigma Alpha Iota

16 Summer 2026 • sai-national.org SAIs In Action A ndrew Carnegie is most famously associated with the music hall that bears his name, on 7th Avenue in New York City. But this Scottish- born industrialist has a wide and varied repertoire of philanthropy and service. This includes not only music halls, but museums, universities, and over 2,500 free libraries around the world. As a native of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Deanna Jacobs has been a patron of the Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls since her childhood. When she was young, her family moved to Florida when economic downturn hit the steel towns of Western Pennsylvania, but she returned to the area following college graduation. At Appalachian State University in North Carolina, she earned a Bachelor's in Music Business and was an initiate of the Epsilon Theta chapter. After a break from music performance, she got involved in her home community of Beaver Falls. There, Jacobs was a member of the community band, performed in musicals, and—most recently— developed an interest in historic preservation. Jacobs hadn't planned to become a preservationist. One of her volunteer organizations had a meeting at the Carnegie Free Library one day, where they were offered a tour of the 125-year-old structure. In the back of the building sat the remnants of a 700-seat music hall, which had not been operable for several decades. The hall had been closed off in favor of expanded seating and book stacks, and the city had moved community and cultural activities to the large high school auditorium down the street. In the years since the hall had been closed, access to the remaining balcony and stage area was restricted, and it was easy to see why—the roof had considerable damage, and should have been replaced forty years prior. The building's exposure to the elements resulted in significant water damage, and the crumbling walls raised safety concerns. But at the same time, Jacobs had been trying to find a new rehearsal space for her community band, which was no easy task in a city. The space would be perfect, if not for its state of disrepair. But she recalls standing in the back of the room and shaking her head. "No," she told herself. "No, you're not getting involved with this!" As an attorney and member of several volunteer groups already, she simply didn't have the time to commit to a massive restoration of the dilapidated auditorium. The Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls, and its accompanying music hall, opened to the public in 1903, the same year as Sigma Alpha Iota's founding. Owned by the city of Beaver Falls and the local school district, it was originally used for classrooms and as a community center. This was at the height of the Second Industrial Revolution, and Beaver Falls was one of the rust belt's many cities rich in iron ore. But that prosperity wouldn't last—by the 1970s, the steel industry had collapsed, and many of its cities also collapsed as a result. When the industry left Beaver Falls, along with many of its residents and businesses, the library was one of several pieces of the city that rapidly declined. There was an attempt to "modernize" the building in the 1960s, which resulted in much of its architectural history being lost, including the music hall. What remained was a shell of its former self, and only deteriorated further in the decades that followed. As an SAI sister and active musician, Jacobs couldn't forget what she'd seen on that tour. She couldn't The Carnegie Free The Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls: Library of Beaver Falls: Before and After Before and After The Carnegie Free The Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls: Library of Beaver Falls: Before and After Before and After Above, the Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls Above, the Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls Bill Cwyner, photo Bill Cwyner, photo At left, the library on opening day, 1903 At left, the library on opening day, 1903 Carnegie Free Library Carnegie Free Library archives, photo archives, photo

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