Lancaster Public Library officials told Millersville Borough Council on Sept. 9 that the library serves thousands of local patrons and relies on a mix of library, fundraising and government revenue to support services. Elise Pollock, donor relations associate, said 17% of Millersville residents hold library cards and that 9,480 materials were borrowed by borough residents in 2024.
The presentation explained why the library’s services extend beyond books. Theodore Griffiths, manager of business services and circulation, described resources for entrepreneurs, an Autism Resource Center, hotspot devices, meeting-space rentals with a free room for nonprofits, and digital platforms such as Libby, Hoopla and LOTE for Kids to provide multilingual materials. Pollock said the library circulated 527,580 materials communitywide in 2024 and logged 80,920 public computer and wireless sessions across the 14 municipalities the library serves.
Pollock said an ARPA-funded outreach initiative launched in January 2025 included a mobile library van and a full-time outreach specialist, who partnered with 42 community organizations and reached more than 5,300 people in six months. She said the outreach funding is scheduled to end in 2026 and the library is examining sustainable funding to maintain new programs. For its 2026 projected budget, Pollock said Lancaster Public Library estimates 64% of funding will come from library sources and 36% from government sources; the borough’s 2025 contribution to the library was $5,000.
Councilors asked about parking for patrons and about evening hours and language-access programming. Pollock said the library has pursued limited past outreach to parking garages but could not confirm a current arrangement; she said expanded evening hours and additional multilingual programming were part of the library’s “dreaming” if funding increases.
The library requested continued support and thanked the borough for its contribution; council did not take a funding vote at the meeting.