The minutes of June meeting were corrected. The friends groups are going to work together for more money in the budget of Huntingdon County not Huntingdon Borough.

The treasurer reported a disbursement of $ 97.54 for newspaper ads for the book sale and for supplies. There were receipts of $ 275.00 from memberships.

The balance is $ 2,981.16.

Cheryl Washburn attended the June Library Board meeting. She reported Lisa Hosler, board president, is taking a leave of a year on August 1, 2007; as her husband is on sabbatical. Belle Tuten is going to be repairing books from the Pennsylvania Room. She has experience doing such. The board discussed the fund raising campaign. No one attended the July meeting which was held July 2. Valerie will attend the August meeting.

Nancy gave the Library Director’s report. The fire system is updated and running. Bids are out on the front door renovation and the reinforcement of the corner of the building . The board went to Huntingdon County commissioners for an increase in the budget for the library and are going to the Smithfield meeting to ask for funds. The board is considering increasing the numbers of members on the board by three members. The interim President of the Board will be Tammy McNight, current Vice President. Serving on the board for one year while Lisa is gone is former board member Lynn Cockett. Over 600 children have signed up for the summer reading program. We were asked to write our representatives regarding an increase in the state budget for libraries. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 913 passed the state senate and is now in the state house. This bill will take monies for library capital projects and divert it for other uses. Contact your representative to oppose Senate Bill 91.

The forestry project, a cooperative program with the Garden Club and the library, went well. We are considering selling calendars. Magazines are accepted for donations and are given away free on the table near the videos.

A discussion was held regarding friends volunteering to man the desk for short periods of time per a request from the library board president. Consideration of dedicating the book sale funds to pay a person to do this was put forth by Marilyn Adams. Marilyn made a motion and the motion was seconded by Mary Ann Smith. A vote was taken and the motion was defeated.

Pat McNeal made tickets for several items to be awarded at the book sale. She brought products from Mead to be included in a children's bag. Three different bags will be awarded at noon on July 14.

The ads have been placed in the newspaper and Becky will take pictures during the setup and as we give a check to Nancy on Tuesday, July 17 at 10:00 a.m.in the library. Marilyn is making up a big check for the presentation. Other discussion included signage, tables, set up and disposal of the left over books. Shirley and Mary Ann gave us the worker schedule. Strickler’s is donating a cooler and jugs of water for use during the sale.

Harlan Byers presented to the library the book “David Gregg Pennsylvania Cavalryman” by Milton V. Burgess. David’s full name is David McMurtrie Gregg and lived in the McMurtrie mansion. A picture of the mansion is in the book. Harlan has corresponded with the author’s family and a nephew, Mr. Richard M. Bice, donated the book for the library’s non circulating collection. Harlan gave us biographical information regarding David McMurtrie Gregg. Huntingdon should be proud of this Huntingdon native.

There is no August meeting.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, September 4 at 10:00 a.m.

Correction: Some Board members and I (Nancy Holland) went to Huntingdon BOROUGH - not the County Commissioners - asking for an increase in their financial support and consideration with future CDBG funding.

Front door and back wall projects are going to bid next week - not out yet.

=====

Good evening, library supporters.

A strange and unpredictable budget process is heading toward a conclusion. As you may have read in the newspaper, a “handshake” agreement was reached on a new state budget in the wee hours this past Sunday night/Monday morning. This handshake agreement averted the layoffs of state employees and established a funding ceiling for the total state budget reported to be $28.2 billion.

But the last two days have been strangely and disturbingly quiet. No one yet has spelled out the line-by-line details of a budget agreement. Reports exist that many non-mandated state programs may face cuts of perhaps 1.3%.

All of this causes us to be gravely concerned about library funding.

We believe the situation remains fluid. We believe there may be one last chance for library advocates to be heard.

Here again is our request: We seek an appropriation for the Public Library Subsidy of $79,450,000. This represents an increase of $2.2 million (2.9%) above Governor Rendell’s proposal of 2% increase of $1.5 million. At the very least, URGE your legislators to insist on AT LEAST the 2% increase Governor Rendell included in his original budget.

Increasing library budgets is even more critical when the economy slows down because more and more Pennsylvanians use libraries when they cannot afford to purchase books and reading materials, or rent DVDs elsewhere.

Recession or not, our core message remains: we seek an appropriation of $79.4 million to restore at least the incentive part of the state funding formula; use the most up-to-date statistics to eliminate funding inequities that have accumulated over time (6 years); and make sure that every library gets an increase so that no library’s funding falls further behind in the next budget.

Libraries’ most severe ongoing challenge is to secure greater support from local funding partners---counties, cities, municipalities, and school districts. The state funding formula includes strong incentives to grow this local support for libraries, but only when the formula runs consistently. Governor Rendell’s proposed increase of $1.5 million (2%) does not enable libraries to fully return to the still-frozen state funding formula which is why we’ve asked for $79.4 million next year. We must begin to unfreeze the funding formula for public libraries which has been frozen since 2002 (the year before the 2003 budget cuts.)

Bottom line: We seek $79.4 million to unfreeze the formula. At the very least, legislators should be urged politely but firmly not to backtrack on the Governor’s original request for a 2% increase.

Thanks for carrying the fight one more time. We will provide more details as we get them.

Glenn

=====

Subject: Helpers Needed

It’s an exciting time at the Huntingdon County Library! The library will be closing at 6pm on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 to prepare for the installation of new carpet and a new circulation desk! In order to have the library ready for this MAJOR project, furniture needs to be moved, and the shelves need to be wrapped in plastic. So, if you are able to help with heavy lifting of furniture or 8x100 heavy rolls of plastic, please contact the library director, Nancy Holland at 643-0200. The work will be done March 6^{th, 7th and 8th during the day. The library will be closed and the staff will not be watching the door. So, if you are able to help you must contact Nancy before 5pm, March 5th to schedule your arrival time. The library will re-open on or about Monday, March 24, 2008. Watch for more info!}

As always, thanks for being a Friend of the Huntingdon County Library.