Allentown Public Library Wants More Salisbury Residents to Join

The Allentown Public Library plans to expand outreach efforts in Salisbury Township, according to library Director Renee Haines.

The Allentown library has 4,392 registered borrowers from Salisbury, roughly one-third of the township's population,  Haines told the board of commissioners at its Oct. 27 meeting.

“It is our hope that this number will continue to grow as we create greater library awareness through our outreach efforts,” Haines said. 

Salisbury Township has no public library within its borders, but residents can become members of the Allentown Public Library for free because the township contributes annually to the library's budget. The township contributed $78,000 to the library in 2011, which is expected to remain the same in the , the board said.

Some of library's outreach efforts include a which visited Laubach and Lindberg parks last summer. A total of 37 children checked out 60 books, about 45 of the books were returned. It's not a complete loss for the library, because the books are often duplicates of the main collection, said Joan Kneiss, head of children’s services at the library. Children who returned library books received coupons for a free doughnut at Dunkin Donuts.

The library's plans for 2012 include:

• expanding the book van visits to all four of the township’s parks on Fridays.
• story times with readings provided by Salisbury Township commissioners, police or firefighters.

 “If we could get some firemen or policemen to come out, children will be more at ease when they see them,” said Commissioner Joanne Ackerman.

Haines told the board she would like to see a book drop somewhere in Salisbury to make it more convenient for township residents to return books.

She reminded the board the Allentown Public Library has a drive-thru window. “If you are in a hurry you can call ahead a few hours in advance to make sure we have the materials available, and the staff will select the materials from the shelves for you.”

In addition to the Allentown Public Library’s 268,000 cataloged items, resources include a reference section where resident can get help with resumes and job applications, and dedicated work stations for people looking for jobs. “Our librarians are very skilled in helping people and take a great deal of time to do so,” Haines said.

The library can also help with grant writing and is one of the only two Foundation Centers in the Lehigh Valley (Northampton Community College is the other) where prospective grant seekers may come for information. “People come from as far as Bucks County to use this data base to seek out grants for their organizations,” Haines said.