PCBL is an organization of advocates that speaks for libraries throughout Pennsylvania.
Membership is open to anyone who wants to see strong and well-funded libraries, and the best possible library service for all of Pennsylvania's citizens. That includes librarians, trustees of libraries, government officials and friends of libraries, as well as the lay citizen-user of libraries. Members are kept up to date on legislative information and actions as they pertain to Pennsylvania libra
05/28/2026
Congratulations!
Effective May 30, 2026, Pennsylvania’s new Deputy Secretary of the Office of Commonwealth Libraries and State Librarian will be Heather Sharpe. Learn more ➡️ pa.gov/agencies/education/newsroom/shapiro-administration-appoints-new-state-librarian-of-pennsylvania
04/18/2026
Happy National Library Week!
Celebration Days During National Library Week
Monday, April 20: Right to Read Day, a day for readers, advocates, and library lovers to take action to protect, defend, and celebrate the right to read. The American Library Association (ALA) kicks off National Library Week with the release of its State of America's Libraries Report, including the list of Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2025.
Tuesday, April 21: National Library Workers Day, a day for library staff, users, administrators, and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.
Wednesday, April 22: National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day), a day to celebrate library outreach and the dedicated library professionals who are meeting their patrons where they are.
Thursday, April 23: Take Action for Libraries Day, a day to rally advocates to support libraries.
03/26/2026
Nominate an Outstanding Friends Group or Individual
Nominations are open for PCBL Friends Group or Individual Friend of the Year. If your Friends Group goes above and beyond to support your library - or if there is that one indivdidual Friend of the Library who works tirelessly- please consider submitting a Ffriends Group of the Year or Individual Friend of the Year nomination. Find everything you need at https://pcblpa.org/annual-awards
03/13/2026
Annual Awards
PCBL is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Library Friend of the Year and the 2026 Library Friends Group of the Year.
Award Nominations are due Wednesday, April 30, 2026
The Library Friend of the Year award is given to a citizen who has made an outstanding contribution to a local library, group of libraries, or libraries in general throughout Pennsylvania during the past two years. The Friend must be a member of PCBL.
The Library Friends Group of the Year award is given to a Friends group, that has provided significant assistance to its library. Assistance may be monetary contributions, assistance in raising funds, promoting the library and its services, or providing an advocacy effort on behalf of the library. The Friends group must be a member of PCBL.
To access the nomination form, visit https://pcblpa.org/annual-awards
03/03/2026
Daylight Saving Time in 2026 begins on Sunday, March 8, at 2:00 a.m., when clocks "spring forward" one hour to 3:00 a.m.
02/18/2026
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Presented entirely online, this event will offer a valuable opportunity for Library Friends Groups and Board Trustees to learn and engage with one another. Content will be tailored for those involved in library governance and operations, library fundraising, and/or advocacy.
Attendees will have the ability to attend live sessions on the day of the event with post-event access to all session recordings for an additional 90 days. Both individual and group viewing options provide affordable and convenient access to the informative content.
How to Attend
Individually
Join the live program from your home, office, or library using a computer with high speed internet.
Create an individual profile with the ability to ask questions and post comments during the program.
Continuing Education (CE) credit is available to the registered attendee participating from an individual computer or device.
Simple instructions with log-in credentials will be sent the week prior to the event.
Once the recorded sessions are available, log in at anytime during the extended viewing period to rewatch or view other sessions.
Continue to log CE credits by watching the session recordings and responding to the pop-up messages.
As a Group
Join fellow board/group members at the library to attend the live sessions.
Engage in group discussion of content presented.
Each group registration includes ONE log-in from a single device for the purpose of group viewing in a single location. (One session during each session period, for a total of three sessions on the day of the live event.)
A second or third group registration can be purchased for group viewing of additional sessions during each session period. This allows for multiple sessions to be viewed during each session period and provides more choice for attendees.
Continuing Education (CE) credit is NOT available for attendees participating in group viewing.
Simple instructions with log-in credentials will be sent to the group lead the week before the event.
https://www.palibraries.org/library-friends-and-trustees-institute/
01/09/2026
Congratulations, Mt. Lebanon!
Congratulations to the Mt. Lebanon Public Library on being named the 2025 PaLA Library of the Year!
12/18/2025
From all of us at Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries, we wish you a happy and peaceful holiday season!
12/18/2025
Grant money available for Friends of Small and Rural Libraries!
https://www.ala.org/united/grants_awards/friends
10/23/2025
Lasting Connections – Pennsylvania Libraries
Teri McDowell, Director of the Coudersport Public Library, won a gift bag donated by Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries (PCBL) at the Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) Conference in Erie this week. When she stopped by the PCBL booth to say thank you, she shared that back in 1997, when she was a newspaper editor at the Potter Leader-Enterprise, her newspaper was one of two winners of the PCBL award for library advocacy, for a series they published on PALibraries in Crisis. Teri had traveled to Philadelphia to accept the award (see photo). PCBL no longer presents an advocacy award, but they do recognize a Library Friends Group of the Year and an Individual Library Friend of the Year. Find the nomination form at https://pcblpa.org/annual-awards. Who knows – maybe your nominee will attend the PaLA conference in the future and also win a gift basket!
Photo: Teri McDowell receiving PCBL award for Advocacy, Philadelphia, 1997