Library Task Force Holds Interim Public Meeting

Emotions were at the public interim meeting of the Saucon Valley Library Task Force on April 12 at .

The task force has been meeting for more than a year to establish the feasibility of Lower Saucon Township switching its library services agreement from the Bethlehem Area Public Library to the and the interim meeting was planned to present the current findings to residents and allow for public commentary. There was a large turnout from both supporters of the switch and residents who are satisfied with the current library services they receive.

The task force began the meeting with an overview and several presentations explaining their current findings. The presentations are available online for those who were unable to attend.

• Demographics and Statistics were discussed by Jessica Goedtel, Alison Finkbeiner and Lynn Koehler
• Technology was discussed by Gail Nolf, Mike Karabin and Jack Cahalan
• Building was discussed by Kim LaBrake, Joseph Pampanin and Michael Evangelista
• Finance was discussed by Cathy Gorman, Rev. Lamar Handwerk, Tom Maxfield and Tina Krasnansky
• Library Survey Results were presented by Jack Cahalan

After the presentations, the floor was opened to public comment and many residents had strong feelings both for and against a switch from the Bethlehem library to the Hellertown library.

Task force members made it abundantly clear that they are not making a decision on the matter, but merely gathering information to present to Lower Saucon Township Council, whose members will ultimately decide a course of action.  

Bill Billig of Lower Saucon addressed the task force with questions about the usefulness of an online survey that library patrons were encouraged to take earlier this year.

“Most web surveys do not include most of the population and are not representative of 99 percent of the residents of Lower Saucon Township,” he said.

"If any of the information is accurate it's probably by coincidence more than anything else," he added.

Goedtel explained that the survey's distribution was not limited to Internet users, and said that printed copies of it were distributed by HAPL, BAPL, the Bethlehem library's Bookmobile and at .

Several members of the public wanted clarification on what the task force is actually charged with doing, and why they were not comparing the services of the two libraries.

The task force explained that they are not responsible for the decision about whether or not to switch to HAPL, and that they will not make a recommendation about which library services provider the township should align with. Rather, they are charged with the task of finding out if the switch is feasible and what a library would look like if the switch were to be made.

To help determine the feasibility, the task force has been gathering information by preparing building plans and budgets, reviewing statistics, and doing other things that for some residents appeared to have created a false impression about the decision-making process.

Charlie Luthar, a Lower Saucon resident and , spoke to that concern when he thanked the committee for the work it has done so far.

“There is a lot of emotion in the room, a lot of very good questions," he said. "This is not an easy project and these people (the task force members) have put a lot of time into this and there is no decision that has been made here.”

Resident Mary Adams told the committee that she sees major differences between the two libraries, and continues to favor the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

“To me there is such a qualitative difference between the two libraries that it would make a huge difference to me, and it’s hard for me to understand (switching) unless this is purely budget driven,” she said.

Noel Kramer, of Lower Saucon, said she appreciates the fact that her school-age children live in a part of the township where they can easily walk to the Hellertown library.

The accessibility of library services is important to her, she said, adding, "When I have tried parking at Bethlehem (library), I have had an abysmal experience."

Lower Saucon resident Joel Katz was critical of the possible merging of the library systems, and said a lack of demonstrated savings combined with the limited ability of the Hellertown library to expand to a size comparable to that of the Bethlehem library is significant.

"It's laughable to consider even the C (building) plan (for a Hellertown library expansion) against the square footage of the Bethlehem library," he said.

Commenting on the interim report, he told the task force, "you haven't given the community what it needed."

Katz also became involved in a brief shouting match with Handwerk, over his (Katz's) assertion that--as a Bethlehem library cardholder--he was led to believe he could not check books out from the Hellertown library.

In fact, library cardholders who present a valid card from any public library in Pennsylvania can check books out from other libraries via the PA ACCESS program.

"You dropped your books and you walked out!" contended Handwerk, whose wife was the volunteer on duty at the circulation desk when Katz attempted to check books out.

Handwerk asserted that his wife had not been given the opportunity to explain the procedure properly.

Bethlehem Area Public Library director Janet Fricker also attended and spoke at the meeting, both as the director and as a township resident.

"I am...a resident of Lower Saucon and pay taxes to this community," she said.

"Yes, I'm biased. What can I say?" she remarked.

Fricker questioned why a representative from the BAPL was not allowed a seat on the task force, and said Lower Saucon Township's membership in the library system is valued.

"The Bethlehem library does not look at Lower Saucon as just a bank account," she said.

She also urged the sharing of resources among public libraries, regardless of what decision Lower Saucon officials ultimately reach.

The next library task force meeting will be held May 10 at 5pm in the Lower Saucon Township building. Meetings are open to the public.

The task force expects to issue its final report on the feasibility of a library services merger in July.