The Library Code of 1961 (P. L. 324) states:
“The library shall be open for service weekly in accordance with the:
Population Served Hours Per Week
Less than 25,000 35
25,000-49,999 50
50,000 and more 65
… with at least seven of these hours during the weekend period beginning on Saturday and ending on Sunday.”
In 2010 three Lancaster County public libraries were closed on Fridays: Elizabethtown, Ephrata and Milanof-Schock. If this closure brought any of them below the standards stated above, they were required to request a “Waiver of Standards” from the State Librarian in order to continue to be eligible for state aid.
Last year the Lancaster Public Library applied and received a waiver when it reduced its service hours to 54 per week from 65. Given the projected cut back in library aid by the City of Lancaster from $100,000 to $50,000 , a reduction in aid by East Hempfield from $24,000 to $12,000, and the elimination of even a small $1500 subsidy from Pequea, the downtown Lancaster Public Library finds itself caught between lack of funding to maintain the current level of staffing and the requirement (and desire) to continue to keep its doors open on weekdays.
