A message displayed Friday on the electronic sign outside Christ Lutheran Church on Main Street in Hellertown references the ongoing library services drama that has pitted some Lower Saucon Township residents against a majority of their council members. The disagreement has also soured relations between the township and the Borough of Hellertown and spread outward from the Saucon Valley to involve the Southern Lehigh Public Library, which is located in a different county.
Nearly a year after its township council declined to adopt a new agreement with the Hellertown Area Library, the state’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries has approved Lower Saucon Township’s removal from the library’s service area. But that’s not where things will end, the township confirmed in a statement released late Friday afternoon, at the start of the long New Year’s holiday weekend.
In the statement, officials indicated that they intend to fight the decision in court.
“LST intends to challenge the OCL approvals and the law that permits them in the appropriate judicial forum,” it said. “LST will also continue to seek cooperative, long-term, municipal and library ‘partners’ who will work with the Township to provide
sustainable library services in a fair and reasonable manner. LST will not sacrifice the long-term financial autonomy of the Township, nor cave in to unilateral financial demands, in order to achieve a short-term solution.”
The statement acknowledged the fact that as of Jan. 1, 2023 township residents will not have a home library to use, but took no responsibility for that, despite the fact that the township’s financial support for the Hellertown Area Library ended nearly a year ago.
“This is an unfortunate situation, and LST will attempt to resolve it as quickly as possible,” it said. “LST understands that this may be inconvenient and asks for your patience as we move forward.”
Township officials trumpeted the fact that some public libraries will provide library cards on a fee basis and again reminded them that the township is offering to “reimburse residents up to $40 per family if a library institutes this program for LST residents.” However, the statement did not indicate which–if any–local libraries may sell Lower Saucon Township residents library cards, which in any case will only be useful at those individual libraries. According to state library law, without financial support for a home library by their municipality residents are typically ineligble to receive services from other libraries via the state’s Access program. “The institution of such a program is completely up to the individual library, and LST has no control over whether a library makes such a program available to LST residents,” the statement concluded.
The township’s statement–which was unsigned–claims that the OCL’s approval of the Hellertown Area Library’s plan only occurred Dec. 27, although library officials announced it weeks ago. It says that the “OCL had previously granted HAL ‘special approval’ to remove LST from the direct service area prior to the expiration of the 10-year service period referenced in the Pennsylvania Code.”
At the meeting in January in which council in lieu of adopting a new five-year agreement voted 4-1 to donate $50,000 to the Hellertown Area Library–a donation that was later rejected by the HAL board of trustees–it also voted 4-1 to authorize legal action against the library if residents were denied service in the future. Friday’s statement, however, made no reference to the potential for any legal action to be taken against the library.
The next Lower Saucon Township Council meeting will be council’s annual reorganization meeting, which will be held Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Lower Saucon Town Hall. A meeting agenda may be found on the township’s website.
