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Greensburg Hempfield Area Library eyes rewards for communities that backed new tax

Jacob Tierney
gtrlibrarydirector121317
JACOB TIERNEY | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Casey Sirochman is the new director of the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library.
gtrlibrarydirector121317
JACOB TIERNEY | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Casey Sirochman is the new director of the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library.

Residents of communities that approved last month's 1-mill property tax referendum to support the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library may soon get a few extra perks at the library, new director Casey Sirochman said.

Sirochman started at the library Nov. 27, taking over for previous director Linda Matey, who stepped down in August.

Sirochman is taking the helm at a tumultuous time. The library asked six communities for a 1-mill tax. Voters in Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg agreed to pay 1 mill a year to support the library. Voters in Hempfield, Youngwood, New Stanton and South Greensburg turned the proposal down.

That means taxpayers in Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg will contribute about $136,000 combined to the library's budget in 2018 — more than triple the contributions from the other four municipalities put together.

Library leaders are looking for ways to provide a benefit to the communities that provide a disproportionately high level of support, while trying to persuade the rest to get on board if the library holds another referendum in five years, Sirochman said.

“It's just the big ‘why?' I just want to know why they think the library vote didn't pass in those areas,” she said. “What can we do to influence things in those areas?”

Sirochman and library board members haven't decided what benefits Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg residents might receive, but she has a few ideas.

Those residents may be able to check out a DVD for two weeks instead of the usual one. Their first late fee of the year may be waived. The library may hold more programs in those areas than others, Sirochman said.

Library board President Jeanne Smith said the library needs to show its support for communities that provide strong financial support.

In the meantime, she plans to hold focus groups and surveys to learn more about how people use the library and how they could be persuaded to support it through their taxes.

Regular service at the library will not be affected for the communities that don't support the library financially, she said.

“We're never going to say, ‘You don't give your (state-recommended) $5 per capita, we're not going to support you,'” she said.

Sirochman previously served as the director of the Carnegie Free Library of Connellsville and as student success and reference librarian for Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

“She's really hit the ground running. She's very enthusiastic and she had a lot of good ideas when we interviewed her,” Smith said.

She has spent most of her first two weeks in Greensburg getting up to speed and meeting with various community groups such as the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Greensburg.

“The staff is awesome. The board is awesome. The community, a lot of people seem to really support the library,” she said.

She said she's been particularly grateful for the guidance of Cesare Muccari, who was the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library director from 1987 to 2014 and now is executive director of the Westmoreland Library Network.

Muccari said he's happy to provide information in a supporting role.

“My main relationship with her at this point is to try to bring her up to speed with what the (Westmoreland Library Network) can provide to the library,” he said. “I want to make sure she has room for growth, and I don't want to be telling her, ‘You need to do this and you need to do that.'”

Library officials are still studying the impact of the new tax money, Smith said, but early predictions show the extra financial support from Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg won't be enough to stabilize the institution's long-ailing finances.

If things continue as they are, the library could have to close within six to eight years. Sirochman said she wants to make sure that doesn't happen.

“I feel like I need to focus more of our efforts on marketing and outreach and partnerships, and I feel like I need to do all these things yesterday,” she said.

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.