Oct 3, 2022 3 min read

Andy Amrhein was named 2022 Trustee of the Year by the Pennsylvania Library Association.

Each year the organization honors the service of its members, as well as those community volunteers, who go above and beyond to support the work of libraries throughout the commonwealth.

During his six years of service on the Bethel Park Public Library board, Amrhein has held the offices of treasurer and president. He is also a small business owner, and a trustee member of the Pennsylvania Library Association.

Amrhein created the annual Bethel Park Fantastic Four Golf Outing that benefits four of Bethel Park’s nonprofit organizations: the Bethel Park Community Foundation, Bethel Park Education Foundation, Bethel Park Historical Society and Bethel Park Public Library. In 2021, the event raised over $40,000 for these organizations.

Amrhein was also instrumental in making the library’s “Love Your Library” fundraising campaign a success in 2021. He set a fundraising goal of $50,000, much higher than the library had ever raised during the campaign. When the library was nearly $900 shy of the goal on Sept. 30, he made a personal donation to put the library over the mark.

With his help, the Bethel Park Public Library has formed valuable partnerships with other community organizations. He has introduced library staff to key employees with the county parks, South Park Theatre and the Bethel Park School District. The connections have resulted in numerous ongoing library programs, events and activities.

For example, the library now hosts a summer storytime at the outdoor theater in South Park. In turn, the cast of the children’s theatre productions come to the library to give a preview of upcoming shows each month. The library’s new partnership with enabled the library to host an outdoor event that raised $22,000 for the library and theatre.

As with most libraries, the Bethel Park Public Library was struggling to find space to store donated books for its annual book sale. When Armhein heard about the dilemma, he sent a crew of his employees to the library with a truck and moved all the sale items to a warehouse he uses for his small business. When the pandemic made it impossible for the library to safely hold the book sale in one of its meeting rooms, Amrhein offered to host the book sale in his store’s parking lot. The library raised more money from that book sale than ever before.

A committee comprised of association members reviews the nominations, submitted in late summer, and selects winners for a series of categories.

Founded in 1901, the Pennsylvania Library Association is the state’s oldest professional library organization serving libraries, library employees, library trustees, and Friends of the Library groups.