Oct. 21, 2022
HARRISBURG - House Appropriations Chairman Stan Saylor (R-York) was recently presented with the prestigious President’s Award from the PA Library Association (PaLA).
On Wednesday, Jennifer Knisely, 2022 PaLA President, presented the President’s Award to Saylor at the state Capitol in recognition of his longtime support of public libraries.
“All my life I have recognized libraries as centers of learning and critical thinking,” Saylor said. “Libraries are not just repositories of books; they are places of academic pursuit staffed by people skilled in personally guiding visitors to documents and literature that will help them better understand the information and gain answers they came to seek.”
A longtime supporter of public libraries, Saylor has been actively involved in ensuring the libraries in his home county of York have what they need. Upon appointment as the chair of the House Appropriations Committee in 2016, the Pennsylvania library community quickly discovered that Saylor is a champion for all Pennsylvania public libraries when he publicly committed to making public library funding one of his top priorities.
His leadership on this issue allowed library supporters throughout the state to rally the troops and ask other state officials to stand with him and libraries in the quest for funding restoration. The result was an incredible $5 million, 9.18% increase to the public library subsidy. He was clear in recognizing that this was just the first step in building back the funding that is necessary for libraries to operate.
"The Pennsylvania Library Association is pleased to present Representative Stan Saylor with the President's Award. His commitment to and passion for libraries in Pennsylvania should serve as an inspiration to others. This award has only been given two other times in the Association's 121-year history.” said Jennifer Knisley, 2022 President of the Pennsylvania Library Association. “Thank you and congratulations to Representative Saylor!"