Norwin library directors breathe sigh of relief at voter support
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The Greensburg Hempfield Area Library took a $50,000 hit to its budget this year, when an upstairs tenant chose not to renew its lease.
And, even though the Southwest Greensburg referendum on Tuesday’s election ballot only affects $15,000 in library funding, it is a hit director Jamie Falo is happy to avoid.
“There was certainly a sigh of relief this morning,” Falo said.
Norwin Public Library Director Diana Falk’s sigh was even deeper, with more than a half-million dollars in annual funding jeopardized by a referendum that would have eliminated one mill of the 1.2 mills in tax revenue dedicated to the library.
In Southwest Greensburg, 54% of voters opted to keep the tax, with the referendum succeeding by 72 votes. Borough voters initially approved the tax in 2017, while voters in Hempfield, Youngwood, South Greensburg and New Stanton rejected it.
In the run-up to the midterm elections, Southwest Greensburg officials urged voters to eliminate the tax, saying the money could be better spent on other community projects.
In North Huntingdon, Irwin and North Irwin, a wider margin, 64% of voters, were in favor of keeping the library’s funding in place.
“It would have been catastrophic if it had been successful,” Falk said. “It really was wonderful to see. All along, people have been expressing a lot of support, as well as a lot of outrage that someone would try and take away our library.”
The referendum was driven by a petition from the Friends of the Norwin Library Reform, who garnered more than 470 signatures to place it on the ballot.
Members of the group said the library’s mortgage is paid and that the tax cut would help ease the burden on taxpayers after the Norwin School District’s recent 2022-23 tax hike.
A similar effort failed in 2007 — 70% of voters supported keeping library funding the same, 6% more than the 2022 referendum.
“We always want to do better and reach more people,” Falk said. “Would we have liked to see it be 70% Certainly. But we’re in a different time now.”
Falk said she hoped those who helped place the petition on the ballot will visit the library.
“We’re working hard to reach everyone in the Norwin School District and make the library valuable to them,” she said. “If they come to the library, they’ll probably find something they’ll like.”
Related
• Voters in Norwin, South Greensburg support library funding
• Southwest Greensburg to consider referendum to pull library funding
• Group seeks to cut Norwin library funding; director says service cuts may follow