June 2012 - Allegheny West Magazine

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�� CHILDREN (grades 1-5) �� MIDDLE GRADES �� TEENS �� ADULTS �� FAMILY FUN ��
W hen four women in the community -- Claudia Wagner and Kate Nicholson from North Fayette Township and Cathy Cummings and Liz Zamule from Oakdale Borough -- met in 1988 to discuss the formation of a community library, WAFEL –the Western Allegheny Friends to Enhance the Library—was born. Little did they know what the future would hold. Now, their 2,400-square-foot space in the former Christian school turned North Fayette Community Center will grow to nearly six times that amount - 14,000-square-feet. On May 25, the library board and staff officially closed on their new location with the purchase of the former Amcom building on Bateman Road in North Fayette. The new library will be centrally located for the three communities that the library serves. It’s just down the road from the Five Points intersection in Imperial across from the Route 22-30 ramps, and less than one mile from its present location. Thus opens a new chapter in the community library’s history. “It has taken us quite literally years to bring the dream of a new library to fruition,” said Pam Perry, library board president. “What a vast difference it will make for this community institution and the people it serves.” When the Western Allegheny Community Library (WACL) opened in 1990 to serve three municipalities -- Findlay, North Fayette, and Oakdale -- it had a total of 3,400 books in that small space. Over time, the book collection grew to 43,000 items. Yet, needs for space grew disproportionately, currently using a mere 4,000-square-feet. On any given day, library visitors currently see books stacked vertically and laterally on top of the shelves. The computer stations are cramped together, close to the drafty entrance door. There is no room to STORY BY PAT JENNETTE PHOTOS BY FRANK VILSACK ABOVE: Left, the former Amcom building will now be the new home for the library. Right, library board and staff at the new library entrance door. A New Home for . . . grow the technology space due to the cramped conditions. In the children’s section, little ones struggle to reach books on shelves that are six feet high. Library activities are held out in the open due to lack of dedicated space, and tutoring takes place in public areas because there are no small, private areas available to meet. Library staff trip over each other at the check out desk, where patrons lean over an old counter chock full of informational materials that have no other place to be displayed. This larger facility will provide the space, independence, and accessibility so desperately needed to provide services to library patrons. Without the support of the supervisors of Findlay, North Fayette, and Oakdale, the library wouldn’t have been able to take this step. Findlay and North Fayette provided partial funding for the initial purchase. Going forward, North Fayette and Findlay will provide $12.66 per capita and Oakdale will provide $5.00 per capita. The building’s previous owner, DMC Imperial Associates LLC, included a $13,000 gift toward the purchase. As in prior years, fundraising events are being planned to continue to raise the necessary monies for the future. The library has applied for several grants in the hopes such funds will be available to help them begin renovations. The remaining amount, which includes the balance of the mortgage and anticipated costs for renovations, is expected to reach $800,000 or more. Last year, several of the board members attended a workshop presented by the Allegheny County Library Association demonstrating what other libraries are doing across the country. It helped to change the board’s perspective of what a library could be in the future. Marianne Sforza, who has served as head librarian since the library opened, and who also attended some of the workshops at the event, said, ��
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June 2012 - Allegheny West Magazine

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