Bethel Park Public Library supporter named state Trustee of the Year
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Each year, the Pennsylvania Library Association honors the service of their members and community volunteers who go above and beyond the call of duty to support the work of libraries throughout the state.
The 2022 Trustee of the Year has been awarded to Andrew Amrhein, Bethel Park Public Library.
Amrhein has held the offices of treasurer and president during his six years of service on the library board, and he also is a trustee member of the Pennsylvania Library Association.
He created the annual Bethel Park Fantastic Four Golf Outing that benefits four nonprofit organizations: the Bethel Park Community Foundation, Bethel Park Education Foundation, Bethel Park Historical Society and Bethel Park Public Library. In 2021, this event raised over $40,000 for these organizations.
Amrhein also was instrumental in making Bethel Park’s “Love Your Library” fundraising campaign a success in 2021. He set an ambitious fundraising goal of $50,000, much higher than the library had raised during the campaign in previous years. When the library was nearly $900 shy of the goal on Sept. 30, Amrhein made a personal donation that put the library over the $50,000 mark.
With his help, Bethel Park Public Library has formed valuable partnerships with other community organizations. He has introduced library staff to key employees with Allegheny County parks, South Park Theatre and Bethel Park School District, resulting in numerous ongoing library programs, events and activities.
For example, the library now hosts a summer storytime at the outdoor theater in South Park. In turn, the cast of the Children’s Theatre productions visit the library to give the children a preview of their upcoming shows each month.
The partnership with the county parks enabled the library to host an outdoor Party in the Park that raised $22,000 for the library and South Park Theatre. Library staff members are now involved with several student clubs in the schools, have served on the school district’s strategic planning committee, and are consulting with the high school principal on a school library refresh.
As with most libraries, Bethel Park was struggling to find space to store donated books for its annual book sale. Amrhein sent a crew of his own employees to the library with a truck and moved all the book sale items to a warehouse he uses for his business.
When the pandemic made it impossible for the library to safely hold the book sale in one of its meeting rooms, as in years past, Amrhein offered to host the book sale in his store’s parking lot. His employees erected a canopy, moved all the materials out of the warehouse, set up the tables and even helped pack up leftover items after the sale ended. The library raised more money from that book sale than ever before.
The library board is more inclusive thanks to Amrhein’s connections. Municipal council and school board liaisons now serve on the library board, which has led to more consistent funding from the municipality and more partnership opportunities between the library, municipality and school district.
Founded in 1901, the Pennsylvania Library Association is the state’s oldest professional library organization serving libraries, library employees, library trustees, and Friends of the Library groups. The association represents more than 1,300 personal, institutional, and commercial members affiliated with public, academic, special and school libraries throughout the state.