In more ways than one, children keep the Allentown Public Library's heart beating.

JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Upper Freehold Regional Middle School Principal Mark Guterl (l) and Elementary School Principal Kelly Huggins congratulate students who raised the most funds for the Allentown Public Library during a recent walk-a-thon. Children are the community members that use the library most and without them the Allentown Public Library might cease to exist, according to Roxanne Robinson, treasurer of the Allentown Public Library board of trustees.

"For every adult that takes out one book, there is a child that takes out 10," Robinson said. "The primary users of the library are the children in the community."

When some of those young patrons heard the library was having some financial difficulties last year, they helped raise funds through a walk-a-thon. As a result of the PTA-sponsored event, Upper Freehold Regional Elementary and Middle School students in grades K-7 made a vital donation of $2,978 to the library Monday.

Anita Kinney, the PTA's vice president of fundraising and family fun, said, "This was our second annual walk-a-thon. Last year, we donated proceeds to the Crop Walk and this year we got word of the library needing a new roof."

When the students presented Robinson with the check, she expressed the library's gratitude as its board of trustees did have to replace the facility's roof and the economy has hindered donations. Although the library does get one-third of its funding from the municipalities of Allentown, Millstone and Upper Freehold, it must rely on donations for the remainder.

Robinson said the money collected from the walk-a-thon will go toward the library's general operating expenses, such as utility bills, repairs and maintenance. She said $900 would purchase chairs for the community room and a display unit for DVDs.

"The chairs in the community room have been there since the 70s," she said. "We are down to two because so many have broken over the years and we didn't have the money to replace them," she said.

Robinson also noted that the library's DVD collection has outgrown the display unit it currently has them.

"DVDs are an important part of our circulation," Robinson said.

Kinney said it was important for the children to help the library because it promotes literacy and offers many other programs and events for children.

"I took my son Deven to a program at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and he pointed out work by Frida Kahlo," Kinney said. "I asked him how he knew who she was and he said I read about her at the library."

Sixth-grader Nandini Singh, who was one of the top fundraisers in the walk-athon, said, "The library has a lot of good books that people can read and learn from. They also have a section that's great for kids with a variety of books."

She said she and her friends had a lot of fun participating in the walk-a-thon to help the library and the PTA.

The PTA donated 20 percent of the proceeds from the walk-a-thon to the library and will use the remainder for student programs such as International Night, Science Night Live, Meet the Artist and author visits. Physical education teacher Matt Nemeth and his staff helped the PTA coordinate the walk-a-thon during students' gym classes. Elementary school students walked laps around campus in October and middle school students walked laps in November. Students asked family and friends to sponsor their laps and raised a total of almost $15,000.

Middle school Principal Mark Guterl, said, "The kids are always excited about doing things for others."

Guterl said the walk-a-thon inspired the school and the community to work together to teach students about the importance of the library, which he called the heartbeat of a community.

Elementary school Principal Kelly Huggins said she likes to see her students inspired to do community service, especially for the library.

"Reading is so important," she said. "And, we like to do anything we can do to ensure that students are picking up books in their free time."

Huggins and Guterl thanked the PTA for devising innovative ways for students to give back to their community.

Kinney said parents also deserve credit for supporting their children in the walk-athon. She also noted that ShopRite in Hamilton and Acme in Yardville donated bottled water for the event.

The top five fundraisers in both schools received Barnes & Noble gift cards and a pizza luncheon with their respective principal.

The top five elementary school fundraisers were kindergartner Margaret Bardwil and first-graders Deven Kinney, Hayden Blecher, Spencer Katz and Juliana Matwiow.

The top five middle school fundraisers were fifth-graders Ryan Bramble, Tia Scheff, Andrew Bardwil and Victoria Dobbins and sixth-grader Nandini Singh.

The PTA said plans are already in the works for next year's walk-a-thon. The organization's next fundraiser, the Spring Fling gift basket auction, will take place 6:30 p.m. March 26 at the elementary/middle school on High Street. For more information, e-mail ufspringfling@gmail.com.

The Allentown Public Library currently has one-day Six Flags Great Adventure passes for sale. All proceeds from the sale of the passes, which are being sold at a discount, will go to the library.