Laros Foundation Trustee Laura Bennett Shelton presents BAPL Executive Director Josh Berk with a grant for renovations in the Cohen Room–and gets carded at BAPL in the process!
The Bethlehem Area Public Library is pleased to announce it has received a generous grant of $10,000 from the R.K. Laros Foundation. The funds will support the transformation of the Bob Cohen Room at BAPL, assisting with the purchase of a floor-to-ceiling glass movable wall for the renovated space, and were presented to Library Executive Director Josh Berk on Friday, January 12, by Laros Trustee Laura Bennett Shelton.
The Cohen Room—the former children’s room on the first floor of BAPL—currently shows the wear of over 50 years of use by the community. It will be refurbished and updated into a concert venue and multi-use space, hosting lectures, meetings, plays, art galleries, workshops and other community events. The room honors the memory of late Library Board member, donor, and dear friend Bob Cohen.
“We are so excited about the planned renovations to the library first floor,” said Berk. “And this significant grant from the Laros Foundation allows us to begin construction. The renovated room will be spacious and full of light. We’re grateful to the Foundation for their help bringing it closer to becoming a new space for the public to enjoy.”
The R. K. Laros Foundation provides grant support with a focus on enduring capital projects through a competitive grant application and review process.
About The R. K. Laros Foundation
Founded in 1952 by Mr. Russell K. Laros and his wife, Mrs. Helen K. Laros, The R.K. Laros Foundation, Inc, is a non-profit charitable trust established to support community non-profit organizations in the Bethlehem, Pa. area serving the arts, education, the environment, health, historical preservation and public and human services. Its goal is to provide grants to non-profit charitable organizations, where those grants will either seed or support programs that might not otherwise occur and focus on initiatives that will have a lasting and continuing benefit to the community and the people it serves. “Helping People Help People.” www.larosfoundation.org