Love Your Library campaign launches in Monroeville, throughout Allegheny County

Leading up to September, Monroeville Public Library hosts an event for which the title says it all:

FunFest!

“It’s a really good way to raise awareness of what we have, but also just to build community,” director Nicole Henline said. “People who maybe think of libraries as that place where they’re going to walk in and be shushed can see it in a different light, where everyone is welcome. And we’re there to help you, not to shush you.”

As far as the event’s timing, it takes place from noon to 4 p.m. Aug. 27, just before the start of the Allegheny County Library Association’s annual Love Your Library campaign. Throughout September, donations to each of the county’s libraries are matched on a prorated basis, up to $200,000 total, by the Jack Buncher Foundation.

“We get support all the way from people just throwing a few bucks in the donation jar, up to people who plan to give us a couple of hundred dollars in September,” Henline said, and some patrons extend even more financial generosity.

Last year, the overall campaign raised a record $1.23 million in charitable contributions by more than 7,450 donors, including almost 1,600 first-timers. Since its inception, Love Your Library has generated more than $5.26 million.

“It’s a wonderful program and a way to help libraries do more with the funding they get,” ACLA chief executive officer Amy Anderson said.

That always is a consideration at Monroeville Public Library, which offers everything from classes and programming for all ages to vast inventories of digital material available for download. Plus there’s the Maker Lab, a dedicated space for craft and technology where patrons can give a variety of innovations a try.

“We’re always trying to get the word out that it’s more than the dusty books that you think are there,” Henline said.

Special events are featured during Love Your Library Month, including the return of Friends of the Monroeville Public Library’s Trivia Night after two years of a pandemic-related hiatus. Doors open at 6 and the game starts at 7 on Sept. 17.

The event represents the first in a series of monthly trivia nights in libraries across the Allegheny County East region, with a championship round planned for the spring.

“In addition to collecting donations, we always try during Love Your Library Month to collect stories, to ask people why they love their library,” Henline said. “The stories matter.”

The campaign coincides with the American Library Association’s National Library Card Sign-Up Month, and for Allegheny County residents, that means “it will work anywhere in the county at any of the libraries,” Anderson said. “You could go right now and pick up a book off the shelf.”

Returns can take place at any of the libraries, as well. And through the ACLA’s online catalog, materials can be reserved for pickup.

“It also allows us to have books delivered to you,” Anderson said. “If South Fayette has a book that you really want and you can’t go over there to get it, we can have it delivered to your library. And it will all be delivered to you free of charge. We’re all linked on the same system, so it makes for a nice service for everyone in the county.”

Speaking of free, Monroeville Public Library no longer imposes fines for late returns.

“A lot of people were always very worried. They didn’t want to take out books because they worried if they were a day or two late, they couldn’t afford the fees,” Henline said. “Now, we are really trying to meet people where they are and where everyone has access.”

For details, visit www.monroeville library.org and loveyourlibrary.org.