Oct 28, 2009 By Herald Standard Staff 3 min read

Last time I wrote my column, we were waiting for the state budget to be passed and hoping for level library funding. Well, the budget has passed, but we did not get our wish. It seems public libraries across the state will have the funding reduced by almost 21 percent. How we will all cope with that reduction will be up to individual libraries.

Many of you have asked if the library will close, and I want to allay your worries – no, we will not close. Because our state funding is around 20 percent of our budget, we can still operate, but on a reduced budget certainly. We will review our operations over the next few months to determine how we will work with the loss of these funds.

We will begin our fall schedule of story time in the Children’s Center soon. Beginning the first week of November, on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to noon, Miss Dianne will hold a story-time, craft and social hour for the preschool-aged children and their parents or caregivers.

The schedule is posted on our Web site calendar, but for those without computer access, StoryTime will be Nov. 4, 5, 12, 18, 19, and 25.

In December, the schedule runs every Wednesday and Thursday until the final Christmas party on Dec. 23. Bring your child or children for a for Story Time and inquire about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Residents of the Uniontown or Laurel Highlands School District, and children under the age of five, may register for the program and receive a free, quality hardcover book each month in the mail until the child reaches the age of five.

Here’s an alert for teens.

A Teen Friends of the Library group is forming. The first meeting is at 2 p.m. Nov. 21 in the library’s meeting rooms. This group’s focus would be to assist in the library when needed, create fun activities, and be a forum for those who enjoy libraries and reading. Teens between 14 and 17, may stop in and see what the group is doing.

The library will be closed Tuesday for Election Day. If you are a registered voter, get out and vote.

Dolores has been cataloging some new fiction titles. Recent additions include Mama Dearest/Harris, Crossers/Caputo, Capital Of-fense/Bernhardt, Little Bird of Heaven/Oates, Lost Art of Gratitude/McCall-Smith, Pursuit of Honor/Flynn, The Professional/Parker, and Even Money/Francis.

By the way, at 2 a.m. Sunday, don’t forget to turn your clocks back an hour. Officially, that’s when Daylight Saving Time ends. We get another hour of sleep. And just a bit of trivia that many of you may know – it’s Daylight Saving Time – no ‘s’ on the end of Saving. I never learned that until just a few years ago. Many of us were saying it incorrectly for years.

I’d like to thank the Uniontown Chiropractic Center for once again supplying the library with eight magazine subscriptions. They are helping us provide our patrons with these magazines we would not be able to afford.

“I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog.” – Unknown

Lynne E. Tharan is the director of the Uniontown Public Library, 24 Jefferson St., Uniontown, Pa., 15401. Phone 724-437-1165.