Halfmoon Township’s proposal to stop funding Schlow library draws surprise, concern
The Halfmoon Township board of supervisors is set to consider withdrawing from the Schlow Centre Region Library program, a move that could impact a range of library services and residents across the county.
The board is holding a special meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 26 to consider enacting an ordinance that would withdraw the township from the library program. The proposed ordinance reads, in part, the supervisors “have determined it to be in the best interests of the residents of Halfmoon Township to withdraw Halfmoon Township from the Schlow Centre Region Library program ... effective January 1, 2024.”
In an email, Halfmoon Supervisor Patti Hartle — the only supervisor to respond to an interview request from the Centre Daily Times — made it clear she does not agree with the wording of the ordinance.
“It is evident based on what we have heard from residents and the data the library provides, our citizens are active and consistent users of library resources,” Hartle wrote. “Mr. (David) Piper has often publicly stated that when he ran for supervisor, his platform included reduction of taxes and withdrawal of Halfmoon Township from the joint municipality library agreement.”
Withdrawing from the library program has not been discussed at any recent public meetings, Hartle said. But any time the library has been brought up during a meeting during the five years she’s been on the board, many have “consistently spoken out in favor of the library and its services that benefit our community, and no one has spoken out against.”
Library officials share concern and surprise
Lisa Rives Collens, the library director at Schlow, said they were surprised and disappointed by the scheduled meeting, as they’ve been working hard during recent years to provide regular updates about the value of library services to Halfmoon’s board of supervisors.
“...We hope they will reconsider their action and continue their relationship with the Schlow Centre Region Library through the Council of Governments (COG) Articles of Agreement,” Rives Collens wrote in an email.
If the township does move forward with enacting the proposed ordinance, Rives Collens said everybody in Centre County would be left with a little bit less during an already economically difficult period of time. And historically, libraries are used more during and after economic downturns, she said.
“We move, on average, about 50,000 physical items throughout the Centre County area. And the reason why we’re all able to do that … is we have funding from all of these municipalities, especially in the Centre Region where the bulk of the population is,” Rives Collens said in a phone interview. “The model that we follow is very much ensuring that you can work or live anywhere in Centre County and still get a quality of service through the federated library system. So cuts to us hurt everybody…”
Sharon Rovansek is Halfmoon Township’s representative on Schlow’s board of trustees. Since the announcement of the upcoming meeting, she said she’s heard mostly support from residents for funding the library.
Halfmoon and surrounding municipalities are also dealing with lack of funding for EMS and fire services. She hopes to see those organizations funded, and said there shouldn’t be a dichotomy between them or the library. Good budget and planning can fund both, she said.
“In Halfmoon Township, we pride ourselves on being good neighbors. We pride ourselves on being the township when somebody needs help getting their driveway plowed, or, you know, supporting our road crews. We’re smaller than the other townships and we really pride ourselves on knowing our neighbors,” Rovansek said. “But when we say ‘we are not going to fund the library,’ we are banking on — literally banking on — every other township, municipality and the borough to pay more for us. That is not being a good neighbor, and Halfmoon is better than that.”
How is the library funded?
All municipalities in the Centre Region Council of Governments, of which Halfmoon is a member, contribute funds to Schlow Centre Region Library. That amount is determined based based on the percentage of physical items — not the use of electronic resources, like eBooks or eAudiobooks — that the residents of each municipality borrowed in the previous 12 months, according to information provided by Schlow.
Halfmoon Township paid $55,480 for operating and capital expenses combined in 2022, according to the approved budget. That is less than $20 per capita — and less than the average cost of one new hardcover book, according to information provided by the Schlow Centre Region Library.
The library has many services available for no charge, including loans from a collection of over 152,000 books, audiobooks, DVDs and other media, and a digital library with access to eBooks and streaming movies, music and television shows. Physical meeting rooms and Zoom rooms for online meetings are available, and hundreds of programs for children, teens and adults are provided.
Halfmoon resident Virginia Squier is on the library’s foundation board. Libraries help engage and educate citizens, she said, using state government forms as an example. The government no longer mails out some required forms, as they’re available online. But not everyone has access to a computer or internet. The library has computers, printers and internet that people can use to access the forms.
“Personally, I believe that the way we support democracy is by having an informed electorate. And the way people get informed is by having access to information and that’s exactly what libraries do. They provide information,” Squier said. “They also don’t judge. So I don’t care what your point of view is, but you have to understand that the library’s goal is to give everybody the information that they seek.”
Impact of cutting funds
So, if the Halfmoon board votes to withdraw from the library, what impact will that have? Documents provided by Schlow state cuts to a variety of library services would need to be evaluated if it were to lose “such a significant amount of funding.”
Schlow’s 2023 operating and capital budget is $2,976,552. While the library receives donations, they do not expect to be able to get enough donations by Jan. 1, 2024 to make up the shortfall if Halfmoon stops funding the library, documents state.
And the impact would go beyond Halfmoon residents.
“We would need to assess the hours the library building is open, the availability of library materials and programs, and access to electronic materials. There are many value-added services that we currently only provide to participating COG municipalities, including Remote Book Return Service, Book Pick-up Lockers, and Hoopla, to name a few,” according to information provided by Schlow.
In February, the library started a remote pickup locker at Way Fruit Farm to offer residents a convenient way to get books and materials on a weekly basis, according to its website. It has served 45 unique users and Schlow has sent about 45 items a week to the lockers.
Rovansek said that service is helpful to residents, especially now with rising costs of goods, including gas. The remote pickup locker saves Halfmoon residents an extra trip into State College to the library.
Additionally, the remote book return at Brother’s Pizza in Stormstown has seen 1,952 items returned and the Uni-Mart at Carson’s Corner has seen 3,681 items returned through November.
If the township opts not to fund the library, Halfmoon residents can still use the basic services of the library, but there will be fewer materials, services and programs to use, according to information provided by Schlow. Plus, services like access to electronic resources and drop-off and pick-up of physical items in Halfmoon will not be available.
This is the latest move by the board to draw concern in a year that has been filled with controversies in Halfmoon Township, including several transparency concerns, staff turnover, and the board declining to recognize National Hispanic Heritage month.
Residents can send public comment on the proposed library ordinance to supervisors@halfmoontwp.us and townshipclerk@halfmoontwp.us. Residents can also comment during the special meeting, which people can attend in person at 100 Municipal Lane, Port Matilda, or via Zoom. C-NET coverage of the meeting will be provided.
This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 9:48 AM.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect the library’s correct 2023 operating and capital budget.
