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Library assistant director plans dip in Mon River

By Carla Destefano 3 min read

CARMICHAELS – When it comes to saving the Flenniken Public Library, assistant director Jessica Miller is willing to put her body where her mouth is. Miller said she’s been trying to raise awareness about the importance of sustaining community libraries, all of which have seen a 30-percent hit in state funding over the past two years across Pennsylvania. So this year, Miller has decided instead of telling people, she would show them. At noon on New Year’s Day, Miller will don the library’s mascot costume, the Flenniken Flamingo, and take a chilly dip into the Monongahela River.

“It’s time to show everyone just how important libraries are,” Miller said. “We are one of those few community resources that are able to help a wide variety of people no matter their age or economic situation.”

Fashioned after the well-known Polar Bear Plunge, Miller hopes to raise money that will help continue programming and resources offered at Flenniken. While jumping into a river full of ice may seem drastic to some, Miller said desperate times call for desperate measures. The effects of the state funding cuts are starting to hit hard at the library.

“Beginning in 2011, we will cut our Saturday hours,” said Miller, who noted she fears that programming may have to be the next to go. “We want to provide as much as we possibly can, but unfortunately, our materials budget is also suffering.”

Currently, the library offers a host of programs including computer classes, children’s activities, and other resources. The library’s website, www.flenniken.org also offers additional resources. Beginning Jan. 8, Saturday hours will be reduced to three hours opening at 10 a.m. and closing at 2 p.m.

Miller, of Fredericktown, said a coworker made the mascot costume, constructed out of thin material as to not bog her down in the icy water.

“But it is not water resistant because that would be cheating,” she joked.

Miller admits this isn’t the first time she has jumped into the frigid waters of the Mon, but this is the first time she will attempt to stay in for the whole minute.

“I’m not 100 percent sure because I keep looking at the Mon and it still has a lot of ice on it. I don’t actually see the water itself yet,” she said, adding that she is unsure of an exact location to enter the water as of presstime. “But I am not going to chicken out when there is money on the line.”

Donations, in the form of a flat fee or per each second the flamingo stays in the water, will be accepted at the library or on the website for those who wish to use the Paypal service through a credit card. Donations will be accepted throughout the year.

“Basically, I want to raise this money because we don’t want to charge for services like some other libraries have had to do,” she said. “I don’t see us going in that direction yet, but we don’t want to take the chance of that happening.”

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