The public libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are divided into 28 library districts. Our district is the Erie/Crawford District, headquartered in the Erie County Public Library’s Blasco Memorial Library. Blasco was designated as a District Library Center on the basis of its book collection and the strength of its professional staff. The Erie District Center serves a population of 371,209. The public libraries in the district are:

Erie County

Albion Area Public Library 111 E Pearl St Albion PA 16401 (814) 756-5400	Corry Public Library 117 W Washington St Corry PA 16407 (814) 664-7611
Erie County Public Library 160 E Front St Erie PA 16507 (814) 451-6900	McCord Memorial Library 32 W Main St North East PA 16428 (814) 725-4057
Rice Avenue Community P. L. 705 Rice Ave Girard PA 16417 (814) 774-8286	Union City Public Library 2 Stranahan St Union City PA 16438 (814) 438-3209
Waterford Public Library South Park Row Waterford PA 16441 (814) 796-4729

Crawford County

Benson Memorial Library 213 N Franklin St Titusville PA 16354 (814) 827-2913	Cambridge Springs Library 158 McClellan St Cambridge Springs PA 16403 (814) 398-2123
Cochranton Area P. L. 107 Pine St Cochranton PA 16314 (814) 425-3996	Linesville Public Library Penn & Mill Streets Linesville PA 16424 (814) 683-4354
Margaret Shontz M. L. 145 S 2nd St Conneaut Lake PA 16316 (814) 382-6666	Meadville Public Library 848 N Main St Meadville PA 16335 (814) 336-1773
Saegertown Area Library 325 Broad St Saegertown PA 16433 (814) 763-5203	Stone Memorial Library 1101 Main St Conneautville, PA 16406 (814) 587-2142
Springboro Public Library 110 S Main St Springboro PA 16435 (814) 587-3901

The District Library Center (DLC) concept is designed to provide backup and assistance to the local libraries. The Erie County Public Library receives a special category of state aid called, District Aid, which funds services that your local public library has access to. The Erie District Center provides the following services.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) - If your library doesn’t own a particular title you want, and your library cannot locate the title on Access PA, a request can then be sent to Blasco. The Interlibrary Loan Department will search a national database to try to locate your requested title if it isn’t owned by the Erie County Public Library.

Delivery - The District, through the Interlibrary Delivery System, funds delivery for the 15 different district libraries. This ensures a mechanism to move requested materials from one library to another throughout Erie and Crawford Counties. The District also runs the van service among the ECPL outlets. This van provides backup delivery to the other libraries.

Reference - Librarians can call or e-mail the Reference Department at Blasco to assist them in finding answers to your questions. This reference collection is the largest in any public library in Northwest Pennsylvania and is under the guidance of professional librarians.

Rotating Collections - District Services provides collections of videos, large print books, and audiocassettes that rotate among participating district libraries. These collections augment the district libraries own collections, thereby providing you a larger selection of materials.

Workshops and Seminars - Keeping up to date is important for all fields of endeavor. Libraries are no exception. The Commonwealth requires library staff to earn continuing education hours. District Services provides your library’s staff access to workshops and seminars designed to improve their level of skill so they can better serve you.

Computer Technician - District Services has an on-staff computer technician to assist with troubleshooting and some computer repair. By having a technician on call, your library will be able to get a computer back up and running faster and at little or no additional cost to them.

District Consultant - The District Consultant acts as a liaison between Commonwealth Libraries in Harrisburg and the district libraries. The Consultant assists with grant writing, filing required state reports, selecting materials, library board concerns, etc. To assist meeting the new state library continuing education requirements, the Consultant provides access to appropriate workshops for the local library staff. The Consultant also acts as a library advocate before local, state and federal representatives. Periodic field visits to each district library are also an integral part of the District Consultant’s responsibilities.