LONACONING — In a determined display of small-town spirit, Coney Pizza boxes carry an urgent message: “Save George’s Creek Library.”
Lonaconing Mayor Jack Coburn, who owns the pizzeria, wants local residents to know about a 4 p.m. Feb. 11 meeting at Potomac Fire Company No. 2, which is across the street from the Westernport Library.
The venue will host the Allegany County Library System Board of Trustees, address the organization’s funding shortage and be open to the public in-person and online via Zoom.
The financial problems threaten to close some of the county’s six library branches, including Westernport and George’s Creek in Lonaconing.
“We are a team effort,” Coburn said of the two neighboring towns working together to keep their libraries open.
He talked of recent sacrifices his community has suffered, including closure of the Georges Creek Ambulance Service over the summer.
“We keep having to fight for things we’re losing … and to keep things open,” Coburn said and added area residents have shown an “outcry of support” to save their local libraries.
Unlike library branches in Cumberland, Frostburg and LaVale, cities that have resources including Allegany College of Maryland and Frostburg State University, the Lonaconing and Westernport area “has nothing,” he said.
Coburn said he understands the need for budget cuts, but hopes library officials will consider what’s at stake for the most rural areas of the county.
The loss of public libraries would cause the two towns to “be completely isolated,” he said.
“I don’t feel that the board has taken everything into consideration,” Coburn said and added the George’s Creek and Westernport branches facilitate numerous groups and services, including after-school functions, job counseling and social get togethers.
The Lonaconing branch also includes a history room with a tribute to town native and baseball great Lefty Grove, he said.
“It’s not just a library, it’s a multipurpose (site) to bring the community together,” Coburn said. “It’s so important.”
He recalled helping with fundraisers to create the George’s Creek branch roughly 30 years ago.
“A lot of hard work was put forth to get that library,” Coburn said. “Here we are now fighting to keep it open.”
To reduce the facility’s expenses over the years, the town of Lonaconing has cared for the upkeep of the library building and grounds, he said.
Workers washed windows, mowed the lawn, mulched flowers and removed snow from sidewalks and parking lots, Coburn said.
He said the library board limited the George’s Creek branch to 28 open hours per week.
The facility has been closed weekends, Coburn said and compared the library to a business.
“If the doors aren’t open, how do you get customers?” he said.
In a recent statement, John Taube, executive director of the Allegany County Library System, addressed a 10% reduction in local funding for FY2025.
“To allow us the time needed to research and prepare for this new reality, the library system exhausted its reserve funds to maintain the existing hours and staff in the current year,” he said.
“The library system is facing a significant funding shortage in FY2026 to operate at its current levels,” he said.
A Library Advisory Committee’s recommendations included closure of two or three branches with potential for eliminated positions to compensate for the reduced funding, Taube said.
“If the county is unable to provide sufficient funding to maintain current hours at all six library locations, the Library Board will be forced to make very difficult decisions, including acting on one or more of the Library Advisory Committee recommendations,” he said and invited comments and suggestions to be emailed to boardmeeting@alleganycountylibrary.info.
Parking for the Feb. 11 meeting will be available in the library and Port West Plaza lots.