NAZARETH, Pa. — A Northampton County library was awarded $250,000 for improvements and upgrades, state officials said.
“Pennsylvania’s libraries provide critical resources and services to the residents of their communities, and this funding will enable them to continue those efforts in state-of-the-art spaces,” said state Secretary of Education Khalid N. Mumin in a news release. “By investing in our libraries, we are investing in the health of our towns and cities and all of the people who call them home.”
Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity, 295 E. Center St., was one of 17 libraries in 14 counties to receive funding from Keystone grants awarded through the state Department of Education’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries. It was the only library in the Lehigh Valley to be awarded funding this round.
The grants pay up to 50% of eligible costs in construction and rehabilitation of public libraries, like roof improvements, replacement windows, energy efficiency upgrades to HVAC systems and more.State officials
The grants pay up to 50% of eligible costs in the construction and rehabilitation of public libraries, like roof improvements, replacement windows, energy efficiency upgrades to HVAC systems and more, according to the release.
Officials at the library, which was awarded a Gold Star rating by the Pennsylvania Library Association in Nov. 2019, got approval from borough council to apply for the grant program in August.
The money is needed for a new boiler/furnace heating unit, according to minutes from the meeting posted online.
The motion passed unanimously.
During that same meeting, borough officials voted, also unanimously, to reimburse the library for $22,690 for work done on two chimneys.
For more information on the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, go to the DOE’s website.
