Libraries these days are more than just books.

They serve as community hubs, as Lower Towamensing Township and Palmerton Borough officials were told as part of separate visits orchestrated by the Palmerton Area Library within the past few days.

Debbie Miller, library board member, attended Tuesday’s Lower Towamensing Township Board of Supervisors meeting and expressed how appreciative the library is for the support it receives from Lower Towamensing, Palmerton, Bowmanstown and Towamensing Township.

Miller told Lower Towamensing supervisors that the library is in the process of writing grants to try to pull in well over $1 million.

“Lower Towamensing has been a big supporter for well over 20 years,” Miller said. “I’m really here to thank you, Lower Towamensing plays a really big role in what we do.”

On Thursday, Jack Woginrich, treasurer for Palmerton Area Library, expressed much the same sentiment to Palmerton Borough Council during his visit.

Woginrich said the library was also looking to raise money, which has been an ongoing problem for it.

“(The library) has become a community center,” Woginrich said. “We are there and we do a lot more than just lease out books.”

The library is currently in the midst of a large restoration project.

Phase 1 of the project, the portion of the west wall, has been completed, and cost about $75,700.

Marian Hoffner, vice president of the library’s board of trustees, said in 2023 the renovation project would likely cost about $1 million.

In addition to the grants, Hoffner said the library was also looking to raise money locally, as it isn’t just the building program it has to deal with, but also funding for the library in general.

Hoffner added that along with looking to finance the building project, the library also wants to not only be able to maintain the services that it offers, but also expand them.

Woginrich previously told Palmerton Borough Council that the library had been putting a “band aid” on building damage for roughly the last decade, spending about $100,000.

The parapet top stone was slated for removal, and a water diversion system installed that will channel the rainwater from dripping down the parapet wall to the roof membrane and then to the drain.

Also, the stones on the outside of the building would be cleaned and restored, plus the silicone joint compound would be removed and replaced with a sand-based grout that will breathe and release water instead of sealing it in.