Nearly one year ago, the Bradford County Library (BCL) was almost shut down in secret. Now, the library’s citizens’ group won a statewide award for its fight to save the library.
The Friends of the Bradford County Library accepted the Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries “Friends Group of the Year Award” on July 23.
Over the last 11 months, the Friends fought the county to keep the library open after commissioners held a secret meeting on Aug. 24 to close the system’s biggest library without holding a vote. The Friends and some residents say commissioners broke the state’s Sunshine Act, the law that mandates public officials and government organizations to make records and meetings publicly available.
After the Friends filed a lawsuit against commissioners and a county-created library advisory board for breaking the Sunshine Act, the commissioners voted to keep the library open on Dec. 28. That lawsuit was discontinued, but could resurface as “it was not ‘withdrawn’ as if it never existed, and it was not lost,” according to an email from Friends' lawyer Jeffrey Dohrmann.
Friends President Cory Hodgdon gave a tearful speech thanking residents who stepped up to fight alongside the library.
“I want to dedicate the award to every member of the friends group. Your hard work, creativity and unyielding spirit has not only saved the library, but has strengthened the bonds of our community,” said Hodgdon. “We have shown we have achieved extraordinary things when we come together with a common purpose.”
Residents traveled across the county with blue and yellow signs with “Save Bradford County Library” splayed across them. Friends member Cynthia Brown said she ran through two-and-a-half tanks of gas in two weeks carting around signs to homeowners’ doors.
“I wanted to stand up for the ones who couldn’t stand up, the people who could not speak out. Some people are just simply afraid to say anything,” said Brown.
About 30 local businesses, municipalities and churches wrote letters of support to keep the library open, according to BCL Interim Director Rebecca Troup-Hodgdon.
But Cory Hodgdon ended his acceptance speech with a warning.
“I want to end this speech by saying that we have won and saved the Bradford County Library. The truth though is, the fight to save BCL has only started.”
Not much has changed since December
In their vote to keep the library open, commissioners said they would start plans to change the library, which is county-run and funded, into a nonprofit. They issued a request for proposal to hire a library consultant for BCL and Bradford’s eight independent libraries earlier this year, but no consultants took the job.
County Commissioners Chairman Daryl Miller said the county asked two librarians, Heather Manchester from Sayre Library and Deana Paston from the Wyalusing School District, to write a simpler proposal. The proposal will likely be broken into three stages, but Miller didn’t provide information on what it will include. He hopes the county can hire a consultant by the end of the year.
Commissioner Doug McLinko said maintaining the county library was unfeasible at a budget meeting in September.
BCL received $410,845 last year and will get $426,686 this year from the county, according to the county budget. It’s the only library in Bradford that gets county funding; the others are independently funded. BCL, however, houses most of the county’s books and resources, which it supports other libraries with through interlibrary loans, according to Troup-Hodgdon.
Miller said the county never had a dollar amount they wanted to save by repurposing the library. Commissioners played with ideas to move the county’s veterans center into the library and to reduce the library’s inventory by 36,000 books, journals and other resources to open a larger computer resource center.
“There wasn’t a specific amount in mind. We were asking ourselves, what’s the best use of that money for tax purposes,” said Miller.
Troup-Hodgdon said libraries are a community’s most valuable investment. She asked the crowd at the Friends of BCL award ceremony to consider how a library’s worth is quantified.
“How do you truly measure our value? What does the library mean to a stay-at-home mother who’s feeling isolated and needs free activities for her kids and a way to connect to other parents? What does the library mean for a homeschooling family that needs resources on a shoestring budget,” said Troup-Hodgdon.
She included BCL is Bradford’s only wheelchair accessible library, making it vital for residents who cannot otherwise use the community resource.
What's next for the Bradford County Library?
But the future of all the libraries depends on whether BCL becomes a nonprofit, according to Troup-Hodgdon. Staff say the library won’t be able to stay open on only community donations, and many of the independent libraries are partially financed by local municipalities. BCL would get no municipal financing as a nonprofit.
The library is also understaffed, according to Troup-Hodgdon. Commissioners budgeted for the library to hire a new employee, but hasn’t allowed them to look for new hires. BCL staff said they had to end its older adult programming because of staffing issues.
“We’re trying to keep our same level of care for our patrons, provide the same services, even when we are so short-staff,” said Troup-Hodgdon. “[We’re] trying to give back to the community that has done so much to support us.”
Friends member Cynthia Brown hopes the library will survive long into the future. She joined the Friends after finding out that the commissioners wanted to close the library without a public vote.
“They just didn’t consult the people. They don’t own the library. The people own the library. The overwhelming response from the people of Bradford County was just overwhelming. It was just so heartwarming. I would really like this library to be renamed ‘The People’s Library.’ And it really is the people’s library,” said Brown.
Cory Hodgdon, president of the Friends, said the library is a testament to the community’s spirit.
“For many of us, the library is more than just a building filled with books. It is a sanctuary. A place where knowledge, community and imagination flourishes,” said Hodgdon.
The Friends of the Bradford County Library is holding its annual meeting on Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. at the library.
