Ephrata Library Update: Temporary Relief But No Permanent Cure

The travails of the Ephrata Library — Lancaster County’s second busiest — may not be done just yet, but they have been significantly reduced. 

As discussed here last month, a structural budget deficit forced the Library into the worst case scenario short of a shutdown: half the staff was relieved of duty, programs were slashed and hours shortened to the minimum required to meet state operating standards.

Now the Library has announced a precariously balanced budget for 2015 and called back the furloughed workers to return to their desks.  But the abbreviated operating hours remain in force and programs will only be restored or continued if they are well subscribed.

Coming to the Library’s rescue was a successful fundraising drive, which raised some $160,000, much of it donated after the fiscal problems were made known to the public.

Some creative entrepreneurialism is also helping:  a food truck will be stationed in the parking lot some days, and passport services are proving to be a thriving line, bringing in revenue of more than $180,000 last year.  In fact, says Library Director Penny Talbert, “We made more in passports than we get in state funding.”

But that odd factoid only serves to underscore yet again the woeful state of library finances in our fair Commonwealth.  And again we are reminded that Lancaster County has chosen to forego the solution that has been effective elsewhere: a county-wide library tax on property.  In Dauphin County, the library tax of 23.3 cents per $1000 of assessed value has been a steady funding source that is barely noticed by the property taxpayer.

With Lancaster County’s Board of Commissioners up for election this year, it would surely be desirable if one or more of the candidates for the Board put the library tax on their campaign agenda.

Meanwhile, there should be no illusions that the squeeze on public library budgets is in anybody’s rear-view mirror.