Burns: $364,100 state grant awarded to Cambria Co. Library
Funding will help replace HVAC in library
Rep. Frank Burns March 9, 2022 | 3:21 PM
EBENSBURG, March 9 – The Cambria County Library has been selected to receive a $364,100 state grant, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, announced today.
The grant, which was awarded through a competitive process involving projects across the commonwealth, will help fund the replacement of the library’s third floor HVAC system, according to the state Department of Education, which administers the Keystone Grants for Public Library Facilities program.
“As someone who grew up in the area, I know how important of a community asset the Cambria County Library is,” said Burns, who has championed childhood literacy by helping bring programs like the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to the county. “Reading is an absolutely fundamental skill, and I will continue to work with our community partners to find the resources we need to promote literacy.”
Burns recently met with Allen Metzler, library board president, and Ashley Flynn, the library director, to talk about future plans for the Cambria County Library, including the HVAC upgrades that this grant will help fund. While he was there, the lawmaker also updated his library card.
Burns said this funding was critical not just for the Johnstown branch, but for the Cambria County system, since the state dollars would free up funding that could be used in other areas, like book purchases, programming or other valuable services.
In addition to supporting the physical library, last year Burns and Saint Francis University celebrated the start of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Cambria County, which sends free books to children from birth to age 5 each month. Burns worked for more than a year to find funding for the project, eventually securing a state grant to help get the program off the ground.
Since taking office, Burns has helped secure more than $65 million in state and federal funding for education in Cambria County, for everything from career development and technology to Pre-K and school safety planning.