It’s Love Your Library month and you can get involved

Photo above from CLP’s Homewood Library by Nancy Andrews/Annie O’Neill Photography courtesy of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

For many families in our area, the local library is an invaluable resource. It’s a place where kids and adults can discover a love of reading, and there’s so much more: Many libraries offer story times for young kids, maker spaces and creative classes, and provide a safe and enriching place to go after school.

To help support these essential places in our community, more than 70 libraries in the Pittsburgh region are eligible to receive matching funds this fall through the Love Your Library fundraising program.

Here’s how it works: If you donate a few dollars to your local library during September (scroll down here to find it on Love Your Library’s list), that donation will be matched by funding from the Jack Buncher Foundation — up to a maximum of $500 per donor per library.

The foundation is offering this pool of $200,000 in matching funds to help libraries with their general operations. For all of the eligible libraries, this funding can make a powerful difference. But for some, the timing of this funding is especially vital. The Cooper-Siegel Community Library recently alerted local families that a leaky roof has led to water damage and parts of the ceiling falling in their Family Teen Room.

“Along with the 23% increase in our expenses, these are the kinds of things that give us a punch in the gut,” wrote the library’s executive director, Jill McConnell, in an email announcement. “This is why we are relying on your support more than ever and are focusing this year’s Love Your Library on operating costs.”

If you’re able to share even a small donation with your local library, this month is the perfect time.