Northland Public Library Strategic Plan: CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITIES 2016-2020 FINAL

In 1988, Marshall Township held a referendum and the citizens voted to join the Northland Public Library. With
the addition of this community and the revision of census, Northland, as of 1990, served a population of 77,711
people in a 62 square mile area.
In 1989, Ross Township held a referendum setting aside 1.5 mills as a dedicated tax for the Library. Other
communities continued to fund on a per capita basis. Subsequent to this, a municipal task force was established to
work out a fair and equitable funding formula for the Library. A new formula was agreed to and used for the 1994
budget year. It called for a formula based on 20% for population, 20% for assessed valuation and 60% circulation.
In 1994, Ross held another referendum rescinding the 1.5 mills and agreed to use the same formula for funding the
Library.
In 1995, Northland received a $200,000 grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District given through the
Allegheny County Library Association. This grant was given for only one year, because Northland and its
supporting communities did not agree to a free lending policy for all residents of Allegheny County. The Library
continued to try to find a way to qualify for ARAD funds without having to agree to the free lending policy. In
1997, ACLA offered ARAD funds to Northland plus the Regional Asset District provided a one year $150,000
grant to assist Northland and the five municipalities agreed to a one year trial of free lending to all Allegheny
County residents, beginning January 1, 1998. Northland became a member of ACLA in July 1999 and continues to
provide free lending to Allegheny County residents. Since 1998, Northland has participated in Access
Pennsylvania, which permits registered borrowers of libraries outside of the five supporting municipalities and
throughout Pennsylvania to borrow material.
Sandra Collins was hired as Director in May of 1998. In December of 1999 the Ross Township Commission
notified the Northland Board of Trustees of their intention to withdraw from the Authority at the end of 2002. A
resolution was negotiated and Ross withdrew their notice in June of 2000.
Northland moved to donated space at Northway Mall in August of 2003 while the Cumberland Road building was
renovated. The renovated building features a comfortable reading lounge with a fireplace, meeting rooms with
current technology, a young adult area, a redesigned children’s area with an aquarium and an oak tree and self
checkout units. Northland become the first public library in Pennsylvania to convert from bar codes to RFID (radio
frequency identification) to permit more efficient circulation of material. In October 2005 Northland migrated to
the shared integrated library system used throughout Allegheny County.
Over the years, Northland has received numerous grants and special honors. In 1984, the area Jaycees selected
Northland for their Distinguished Service Award--the only time an organization has received this honor. In 1992,
Northland was one of a few selected by the Secretary of Education to work on the three year Public Library Project
which studied laws, aid and the development of public libraries in Pennsylvania. In 1995 and in 1996, Northland
was selected by the American Library Association for specific projects. In 1995, Northland was one of 60 libraries
to be part of the ALA’s fundraising project and in 1996 was one of 50 libraries to receive the Modern Poetry
program. In 1997, Northland received the distinct honor of being selected as the one public library to host a
Japanese public librarian for a three week visit. The Japan Library Association annually sponsors a visit to another
country so that librarians in Japan may learn about library services abroad.
The Three Rivers Storytelling Festival began in 2001 as a program of the Northland Public Library Foundation.
The Festival became a library sponsored program in 2005. The family oriented event promotes the tradition of oral
storytelling for people of all ages
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