Armstrong County Library Announces Permanent Closing
LEECHBURG, Pa. (KDKA) - Leechburg's small public library, which is housed in the Leechburg High School Building, is closing its doors; not only for the upcoming weekend, or for the summer, but it is closing down permanently.
The small library that is only open about 18 hours a week just posted a closing notice on its front door and Facebook page.
Library officials posted to Facebook saying, "It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that after serving this community for 93 years, the public library will be closing it's doors permanently on May 30, 2019."
Pam Broglio, the President of the Library Board of Trustees told KDKA News, "We've been here since 1926, sharing space with the school and back then our patrons could come in during the day. Now, we are only open a few hours in the evening, because you can't have people in when school is in session."
Library officials say that was only one of many factors that went into the difficult decision to permanently close.
Broglio explained, "Take that, plus limited parking, plus, we're uphill from down, elderly people can't walk here. It's tough to hire qualified people for what we can afford to pay. Put that all together, and we thought, we'll do what we gotta do."
The library was forced to shut down for six months last year because of a major school renovation project.
But, since then, when it comes to Library patronage, it has been mostly downhill.
Charlene Hoffer, the retiring library director warns, "Small public libraries can close down if they don't go to them, if people don't use them. They're not always going to exist, you have to get [people] through the doors."
The library announced that May 30 was it's last day open.
