Sharpsburg Community Library may add materials, increase hours through O’Hara donation
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Sharpsburg Community Library officials are considering adding hours and to its collection courtesy of a $20,000 donation from O’Hara Township.
The Sharpsburg library is a branch of Fox Chapel-based Cooper-Siegel Community Library. O’Hara Council approved the gift on April 12 provided it be used specifically for the Sharpburg library and not go into Cooper-Siegel’s general budget.
“We’re cognitive of the fact that the Sharpsburg branch has fewer hours, and it seemed to me fewer programs,” said O’Hara Councilman George Stewart. “We’ve been talking about it for months. We’ve had back and forth conversations with Cooper-Siegel folks. We really want to see our money go to Sharpsburg.
“That’s where, as a municipality, we need to do the most for the population. A lot of the kids might not have the necessities and computers. (The library) is a good place for kids to go after school. They have important programs.”
Sharpsburg Community Library is open Monday and Wednesday from 1-7 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It has six staffers and a grant-funded teen coordinator position.
Branch Manager Sara Mariacher deferred questions to Cooper-Siegel Executive Director Jill McConnell.
McConnell said library officials are exploring the possibility of opening the branch on Fridays and adding to its collection with the help of the O’Hara grant.
“I’m glad that they are wanting to support library, support their community and the other communities in the Fox Chapel Area School District,” McConnell said. “I think it’s wonderful.”
She said community contributions are always needed and appreciated. The cost to operate both facilities is about $1.1 million a year.
Annual library funding includes $120,000 in state revenue, including $17,000 from table gaming funds, $204,000 from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, $390,000 from Fox Chapel, $10,000 from Indiana Township, $22,000 from Sharpsburg, $5,000 from Aspinwall and $500 from Blawnox.
McConnell said Cooper-Siegel officials also send out three appeal letters a year resulting in about $90,000 to $100,000 in individual contributions.
She noted O’Hara does not regularly contribute to the library.
Council President Robert Smith that may change.
“They approached us and asked that we provide some additional support,” Smith said about the donation. “We have agreed to do so, and it will be looked at on a year-by-year basis. I think it’s wonderful that we have a community asset like the library, both libraries actually.”
He recalled when Cooper-Siegel was part of the township more than a decade ago.
“We’ve always been very supportive of the library,” said Smith. “There’s a long history with the library and the community center. Years ago they used to be a joint nonprofit agency.”
It was then the Community Center and Library Association. Facilities were the Lauri Ann West Memorial Library and Boyd Community Center located at the former Boyd Elementary School along Powers Run Road.
Cooper-Siegel Community Library opened in Fox Chapel April 2011.
“We just have been operating at close to a deficit for years and years,” McConnell said. “When covid hit, it just exacerbated some of those things. We want to get back to offering strong programs and things for the community.”
McConnell said about 1,500 people on average visit the Sharpsburg branch per month.
Cooper-Siegel averages about 8,000 monthly visitors served by 24 staffers. It is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is also open Sundays September through May from 1-5 p.m.
McConnell said hours were reduced during the pandemic, and both libraries have since returned to pre-covid services and in-person programming.
“We are back to our full hours that were in 2019 at both locations,” McConnell said. “We are slowly building staff back. We did have staff that left on their own accord.”