Communities to be asked to pay for bookmobile

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Allegheny County Library is asking 20 communities to start paying for a bookmobile service because of funding problems.
The bookmobiles had received funding from the Allegheny County Regional Asset District, which allocates funding from the county's 1 percent sales tax. The funding will be cut in January, in part because of shrinking revenues.
Areas that already pay for library services will be charged $5,000 for the weekly stops, while communities without library services will be charged $8,000 a year.
The bookmobile brings library materials -- such as books, compact discs, videos and other items -- to areas that don't have libraries or that don't have convenient access to libraries.
Some communities plan to pay for the program, while others are discontinuing the service.