Lehighton library getting a makeover

Volunteers are painting and installing wallpaper, shelves.

February 17, 2004|By Chris Parker Of The Morning Call

As the old saw goes, you can't judge a book by its cover.

But many people judge a library by its appearance.

So a group of volunteers is busy scraping and painting and sprucing up the 38-year-old Lehighton Area Memorial Library on North Street in the borough.

Work began Friday, and the library will be closed until Monday while the project progresses.

The volunteers include the Lehighton Lions Club, which gave the library its start in 1947.

Lions President Dwight Frey, a self-employed painter, is donating his time and equipment to the effort.

"I can't think of a single thing I'd rather be doing right now than volunteering my time for the Lehighton Library," Frey said Monday as he stood on a tall ladder in the library foyer, trimming and smoothing the edges of freshly applied wallpaper.

Lehighton Hardware donated the paint and Shea's Hardware in Palmerton gave the wallpaper, Frey said.

About 30 people, including members of the Lehighton Elks Club, board members and students in Lois Nunnemacher's Lehighton Middle School Family and Consumer Science class, have volunteered their time.

Library board member Nancy Markley, who also is president of the Friends of the Library, said the refurbishing will cost about $12,000. The money is coming from grants, donations and Friends of the Library fund-raisers.

A Friends yard sale netted $925, and the aid society Thrivent Financial for Lutherans matched $800 of that, Markley said.

The Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor's Market Towns Initiative gave a $2,500 matching facade grant for the building's exterior.

The Lehighton Woman's Club donated $900, and Markley had money set aside from previous book and Christmas cookie sales.

The library plans a book sale the week of March 15, and Markley's 86-year-old mother-in-law, Mae Markley, is making a quilt to help raise money.

Much of the donated money will buy new shelving and carpets.

When the weather breaks, finishing touches will be added to the outside.

A handsome green and burgundy awning will be installed, the back doors painted and the windows reglazed, Markley said.

The volunteer help and donations have been crucial, said library President James S. Blakeslee. He said state money dropped this year to about 66 percent of the $32,000 the library received last year.

The library has a capital fund -- a six-figure amount Blakeslee said the library has been drawing down by about $20,000 a year to make ends meet.

"That fund is dwindling," he said. He said he did not immediately know the fund's exact amount.

"Frankly, I'm just saddened by our politicians, how they could cut our library funds," Blakeslee said.

Gov. Ed Rendell's budget this year restored about a third of the money allocated for libraries. The funding was nearly eliminated in last year's budget.

The original library, at 188 S. Third St., had been bought by the Lehighton Lions Club on April 1, 1947, for $10,600.

The first money to buy books was raised by a collection in local theaters. Then, people and groups began buying memorials to pay for the tomes.

The library opened on Aug. 14, 1948 -- the third anniversary of Politicians Day, Victory over Japan Day, the anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima and end of World War II -- as a memorial to those who fought and died.

By 1962, the library had become so cramped more space was needed.

A donation by Call-Chronicle Newspaper owners Don and Sam Miller in honor of their father, David, a former Lehighton resident, built the present library at 124 North St. Additional property also was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Mandour.

When the new library opened in June 1966, books were moved by a human chain stretching from the old library.

chris.parker@mcall.com

610-379-3224

***

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