Emmaus Library will Cope With Reduced 2012 Funding

Emmaus Public Library Director Frances Larash said the library will cope with the reduced amount of money that Upper Milford Township plans to give the library in 2012.

“We will manage somehow,” Larash said. “We are very good at squeezing pennies. We just keep doing that.”

The preliminary 2012 Upper Milford budget earlier had a line item for the library of $42,225. But the supervisors have since reduced the line item to $36,460.

That amount is the bare minimum that the township must give the library if it is to still be eligible for state funding: $5 per person in Upper Milford, based on the 2010 census.

The supervisors will vote on the 2012 township budget on Dec. 29.

Library usage by Upper Milford residents has been a . Some supervisors and residents have questioned whether the library deserves its current level of funding.

However, a group of township residents who are regular library patrons had attended the Oct. 20 supervisors meeting to .

Earlier in the year, that Upper Milford users account for 18.3 percent of the library’s total borrowers and 18.2 percent of circulation. However, Larash said, there is a lot of library usage not reflected in circulation numbers.

The serves residents in Emmaus, Upper Milford, Macungie and Alburtis.