For Lower Saucon Township residents who use the Hellertown Library, it is a question of fairness.

However, supporters of the Bethlehem Area Public Library say, any move by Lower Saucon to change the formula by which it supports libraries would negatively impact the Bethlehem library, and potentially deprive township residents of that library's assets.

Those opposing views were voiced by several people at a meeting Feb. 20 of Lower Saucon Council to discuss whether to allocate money to the Hellertown Library. Some 50 people were in attendance, with one side or the other applauding speakers who shared their views.

Ultimately, council took the issue under advisement, with one council member saying he is considering reincarnating the task force which three years ago studied usage of the two libraries by township residents and the feasibility of leaving the Bethlehem library to join Hellertown.

That study did not investigate the possibility of splitting the township's contribution between the two libraries, a concept which came up during subsequent discussions.

The task force submitted its findings at a public meeting in April 2012. They found 2,101 township residents hold Hellertown library cards, 35 percent of the library's total card holders; about the same number of materials were checked out by township residents from Hellertown as from Bethlehem; township residents checked out 2,454 materials in 2011 from the Bookmobile sponsored by the BAPL; the township pays a per capita fee to the BAPL, totaling $183,467 in 2012, based on 10,772 residents; six township residents volunteer at the Hellertown Library and a number of clubs from the township meet there.

One problem, which came up again last week, is that the state no longer funds the Access Pa. program. Residents with an Access sticker can use any library that is part of the program, but libraries are no longer reimbursed for usage by residents outside their circulation area.

"Access Pa. is an unfunded mandate," BAPL executive director Janet Fricker said.

Fricker and two Bethlehem residents who have served on the BAPL board of trustees spoke against splitting the township's contribution.

"If you start talking about splitting tax dollars, you're diluting the system," Fricker said.

She argued it wouldn't be fair to the other communities who are part of the BAPL for Lower Saucon to reduce its contribution.

She said representatives of those communities reacted negatively when the idea of Lower Saucon splitting its library contribution was brought up at a board meeting. The idea could be reintroduced, she said.

Linda Robertson of Bethlehem, a former trustee, said if the township leaves the BAPL for Hellertown, it would be "going against all trends in libraries across the country," toward consolidation, not fragmentation.

And William Shire, who had also served on the BAPL board, said the BAPL "offers much more than books" and warned if the township left the BAPL to join the Hellertown library, "You'd be trading options for convenience."

But supporters of the Hellertown Library spoke passionately about the convenience and community services it offers.

"We should talk about the children in the community who can walk to the Hellertown library," Councilman Thomas Maxfield said.

Township resident Noelle Kramer agreed, saying her children can walk to the Hellertown library and they go there for a variety of community activities.

"Bethlehem is of no use to me," she said, because her children can't walk there.

Hellertown librarian Robin Rotherham said, "Lower Saucon residents do contribute greatly to the library, both monetarily and otherwise."

Council President Glenn Kern said, "I was shocked to find out we don't contribute to the Hellertown library."

Allison Finkbeiner, who served on the task force, said the township's contribution to the BAPL is more than the Hellertown library's entire budget of $143,000. She also pointed out, "You're paying for two buildings at the BAPL."

Other township residents criticized the task force for not doing a comparison of the two libraries before reaching its conclusions, and council for not including that comparison in its directive to the task force.

"Until you compare services at each library, you're deciding in the dark," Jay Lazar said.

Lazar also suggested another option: staying with the BAPL and adding a contribution to the Hellertown library to the township's budget.

"I think we're looking at how to use both libraries," Kern said.

He and other council members agreed more study is needed.