After nearly three years of restructuring, staff members at the Lehighton Area Memorial Library are excited to be expanding their community outreach and programs.

“Although it’s a small library, with a small building, we can have a big impact and have big plans,” said library Director Melissa Hawk. “We’re going to be adding a lot of programs.”

Lehighton Area Memorial Library opened in 1948 on South Third Street. Within 15 years, it had outgrown the building and began plans to build a new library. The library opened its current location in June 1966 during Lehighton’s Centennial Celebration.

Today, library patrons are greeted by a small but knowledgeable staff that includes three library aides and Hawk, who joined the staff in October 2017.

‘Thinking outside of the box’

While the Lehighton library is expanding its offerings, it plans to maintain its current programs. The library offers both daytime and evening story time and crafts, geared toward preschool and school age children; a monthly book club and coloring night for adults; special events such as their recent game night; and a summer reading program.

Lehighton’s first new program for the year is a Teen Advisory Group. They are actively recruiting local teens and want to know what types of programs they might attend and what books they’d like to see on the shelves.

The library is also seeking new volunteers to help with programs and their summer reading program, “Libraries Rock,” in which Hawk hopes to feature musicians and others who will “rock” a child’s world, such as artists, writers, firefighters, teachers and other community members.

“We can do more programs and events if we have more volunteers to fill in the gaps,” she said.

While the library needs volunteers, it also needs input from the community, Hawk said. Individuals and groups are encouraged to request programs, consider presenting programs and partnering with the library, and share any ideas that they have.

A survey asking which programs the community is interested in attending is currently available at the library and on its Facebook page and website, www.lehightonlibrary.org. Program ideas for this year include a painting or craft night; a “book buzz” meeting to share favorite authors and books; coding and STEAM events (science, technology, engineering, art and math); reading to a therapy dog; a beginner’s block party; and fan clubs for Legos, Manga, Minecraft, and other pop culture.

“A lot of times we select programs and hope that people will come. I want to turn that on its head and be proactive,” said Hawk. “The libraries that thrive are the libraries that keep adapting to meet the needs of the community. That’s going to be our theme for this year, to find out what the community needs and how we can connect with them. This community deserves a lot from their library, and we’re going to deliver.”

In addition to asking what types of programing the community is interested in, Hawk is also asking for the best days and times to offer events.

She encouraged community members to call, email or stop in to tell staff members what type of programs they’d like to see or request a visit from the library. Hawk has been increasing the library’s community outreach efforts, which get staff members out in the community and interacting with people who might not have visited the library recently.

“We are getting out in the community and finding ways to reach people,” she said.

The first phase of community outreach has been geared toward the youngest community members, bringing the best of the library to preschool and early childhood education programs in the Lehighton Area School District. Next up is to visit senior centers and community groups, including local Scouts.

Hawk noted that it isn’t possible for many of these groups to visit the library during normal hours — there isn’t enough time during the school day, and it’s difficult to transport a classroom of young children for a field trip.

She’s also encouraging groups to request programing on days and times when the library is normally closed, creating a chance to utilize the entire building and better meet unique scheduling needs.

“For example, we’re closed on a Monday. This gives us an opportunity to have programing here and use the space for programs,” said Hawk. “We’re really thinking outside of the literal box that we’re in and listening to the community.”

The library recently received a grant from the Carbon County Chamber and Economic Development Corp. and the Monroe County Local Share Account from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to replace carpeting. It will also examine the building’s layout options at that time to better serve patrons and encourage them to spend more time in the library.

Despite being one of the smallest libraries in our readership area, Lehighton Area Memorial Library offers all of the basic services the community needs, including computer access; printer, copies and fax; online databases such as Power Library, Rosetta Stone, Chilton Library and LawDepot; internet access and PenTeleData Unleashed Wi-Fi Hot Spot access; and more.

Cardholders in each Carbon County library can also download free books and magazines from the Carbon Lehigh Downloadable Library and Zinio.

Lehighton is also offering appointments for one-on-one computer help with email setup, basic internet use, Office products such as Excel and Word, and more.

The Lehighton Area Memorial Library is located at 124 North St. It’s open Tuesday and Thursday from 1 to 7 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year. Summer Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; summer reading programs are also held each year.

For more information, call 610-377-2750 or go to www.lehightonlibrary.com or www.facebook.com/lehightonmemoriallibrary.