By Emily Wang, Staff Reporter

On Feb. 16, the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries issued more than $4.4 million to 17 libraries across 14 counties. The department distributed funds through Keystone Grants for Public Library Facilities, which support hterenovations and construction of public libraries. The Easttown Library received $45,000 to upgrade its infrastructure.

The library administration plans to use the grant money to replace two of its heating pipes and the current ozone-depleting substance, HCFC-22. The popes have operated for nearly 22 years.

“This will assure that we don’t have service interruption if anything were to happen to these old heat pumps,” said Easttown Library director Amber Osborne, who oversaw the grant application process. If one were to break and go out of commission, then we wouldn’t be fulfilling our full duty to the community.”

The library administration began the application groundwork for the grant in late fall 2022. Osborne said that the administration considered multiple aspects for the request.

“The Keystone Grant is a very well known grant in the library world. It’s one of the primary funding sources for facilities, so it’s been on my radar,” Osborne said. “It’s a pretty intensive grant, and there’s a lot of different pieces.”

After receiving timelines and an evaluation for the project from an engineer, Osborne attended Easttown Township meetings and gained approval to move forward with the grant application from the township board of supervisors. She then gathered letters of support from the board of supervisors, the Easttown Library board of trustees and the Chester County Library System. The library administration officially applied for the grant in October 2023.

Sophomore Anthony Zhang frequently goes to the library after school to complete schoolwork. He often sees community members there and finds the grant beneficial.

“The money could definitely be used to modernize the facilities,” Zhang said. “There should be more public libraries providing a really good community space.”

Osborne said that the library administration is in the process of determining the details regarding the construction portion of the project such as bid packages, contractors and the schedule.

With the funds, Osborne feels that the library will be able to provide more consistent and quality service.

“Just the fact that we are able to continue the service (the community) knows and loves on a daily basis will be proof that we’re also taking care of all this back-end stuff,” Osborne said. “We will be able to continue doing what we always do without having to stop and close because the heat’s not working or the air conditioning is not working.”

Emily Wang can be reached at [email protected].