Bedford County Library executive committee weighs buying building
County currently owns building
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BEDFORD -- The Bedford County Library executive committee will discuss purchasing the library building with commissioners as it continues to be a community hub for residents.
The county currently owns the two-story building located on 240 S. Wood St. and pays its utility bills. The Huntingdon-Bedford-Fulton Area Agency on Aging leases the top half of the building at $4,800 a month.
Matthew Godissart, director of the Federated Library System of Bedford County and the Bedford County Library, said they are still in the preliminary stages of discussing a potential purchase of the building.
The commissioners asked if the library was interested in purchasing the building about two years ago to give them more freedom with it, Bedford County Commissioner JR Winck said.
The Federated Library System of Bedford County is an umbrella organization that operates four area libraries, including the Bedford County Library, the Everett Free Library, the Saxton Community Library and the Hyndman-Londonderry Public Library.
During Tuesday's budget meeting, Godissart presented his budget for the Bedford County Library and the Hyndman-Londonderry Public Library, while Everett Free Library director Amber Snyder and Saxton Community Library director Gretchen Burke presented their budgets.
After looking at the budgets, Commissioner Mike Stiles asked about the ongoing conversation about purchasing the Bedford County Library building.
Godissart said he operates with a conservative budget, so he's been crunching numbers for months.
He reached out to the state about the building's ownership, and Godissart said the state suggested that the county donate the building to the library.
The board is willing to work on a solution, but he is unsure how much the building will cost. Funding would come from grants and loans, he said, along with additional revenue for maintenance projects.
"The unfortunate nature of a lot of grant funding is that we can get a 50% match," he said. "Because we only have half of the building, that means it's a 25% match because library-specific grants only fund the portion that is the library."
He said more than 30 windows need to be replaced in the 100-year-old building, which will cost about $100,000. But the county has kept up with additional maintenance projects, such as paving a new parking lot, installing an HVAC system and building a new roof.
"It's going to be a bit of a process for both parties," he said. "Eventually, I'd like to get it there."
Stiles said that other organizations may be interested in purchasing the building in the future, which is why he wants to know if they could purchase the building or cover rent fees.
"Because the other libraries have been able to put together information," he said. "They do a lot of work to generate money to keep their buildings going."
Winck said that was accurate, and it's part of a larger, ongoing conversation with the Bedford County Library.
When it comes to applying for grants, Godissart said it's a complex process because they might not receive the grants they apply for, which is why they need to keep having a conversation about purchasing the building.
"It's more than having a conversation," Stiles said. "We need to take some actions, because we have been having the conversations for multiple years now, and the actions aren't taking place."
Snyder suggested the library executive committee meet with the commissioners to discuss plans before taking it back to the library board.
"You guys need to be expressing these concerns to the executive committee, and that would be a smaller, more accommodating meeting than with the entire board," she said.
The county gives the Federated Library System of Bedford County about $120,000, which is distributed among all four libraries in three or four payments a year, Winck said after the meeting.
In other news, Bedford County's Children's Youth Services department anticipated its 2026 expenses to be $459,079 under its approved budget of $1,907,537.
Children and Youth administrator Chris
Gresko said the projection can change because they can't predict how many children will be in placement by the end of the year.
They provide services such as foster care management, adoption and family preservation to Bedford County.
"We do ask for more money to anticipate the unknown," he said.
They presented their budget to the Bedford County commissioners at Tuesday's meeting.
Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.