Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: October 1986 Volume 24 Number 4, Pages 139–142

The Tredyffrin Public Library Its First Two Decades

Page 139

On August 13, 1965 the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to enter into an agreement with the County of Chester "to establish, operate and maintain a free, public, nonsectarian library to serve the informal educational and recreational needs of the residents of Tredyffrin Township by providing free access to an organized and currently useful collection of printed items and other material and to the service of a staff trained to recognize and provide such needs", and to "contribute such sums ... as shall qualify it for maximum State Aid".

Two months later, in October, the Supervisors appointed a Library Board. Its members were Dr. David Goodrich, Barbara Meyer, Edith Parker, Jeanne Rankin, George Shinehouse Jr., Miles Sucher, and J. Frank Wise. At its first meeting, Dr. Goodrich was elected the first chairman.

By early December, more than 700 books had been ordered, and a librarian, John B. Tucker, had been hired.

The Library was formally opened on April 16, 1966 in temporary quarters in the Valley Forge Junior High School. The day was, appropriately, not only the beginning of National Library Week, but also a Sunday, emphasizing that the Library was the first in the area to be open on Sundays. When it opened, more than 10,000 new books and periodicals were on its shelves, purchased with a $75,000 grant under the Library Services Act.

Page 140

By the end of the year the new Library was already overflowing its temporary quarters. When the Library Board was notified in January that as a result of the expanding secondary school population the space at the junior high school would not be available after June 30, arrangements were made for a new temporary location, in the no-longer used old Strafford School building built in 1889. The lease was originally for one year, but after a few months the Library Board was informed that it "was free to use the present building as long as it wants to". The temporary location, expected to be used for "the next year or so", was in fact the home of the Tredyffrin Public Library for more than nine years, until October 1976.

During its stay at the old Strafford School the scope of the Library's services, and its use, grew considerably. The number of books, for example, more than doubled, and as early as in 1970 the Library's collections approached the Ammerican Library Association's goal of two books per capita. In 1969 the annual circulation of books and periodicals by the Library passed the 100,000 mark, and in October 1967 the circulation of books for adult readers had for the first time exceeded that for juveniles and children, Tucker reporting at the time that the Library had now become "a true public library and not just a school library".

But book inventories and circulation activity show only a part of the growth and expansion of the Tredyffrin Public Library when it was in the Strafford School. In addition to books and periodicals, the collections were expanded to include phonograph records, recordings and cassettes, art reproductions, films, and other audio-visual material. In the summer of 1968 summer reading programs were introduced for children in the second through the seventh grade, and summer story hours were scheduled for the younger children. Three years later story hours were held not only at the Library, but also on a regular basis at the Township's day camps, and in the following year a series of children's movies was presented at St. Luke's Church. At the same time, members of the staff also started visiting several local nursing homes and retirement homes on a regular basis to offer them library services, and a collection of paperback books was placed in the Mt. Pleasant Community Center. Additional programs for adults included several series of film presentations, discussion groups, photography contests, authors' coffee hours, and a walking tour of Philadelphia.

In January 1968 the Friends of the Tredyffrin Library organization was formed, to intensify community awareness and use of the Library, to sponsor programs of cultural interest, and to promote public relations. Dr. James Chastain was elected the group's first president, and by the end of the first year its membership had grown to 134. (Today there are more than 400 members in the Friends of the Tredyffrin Library.) Over the years the Friends have held the annual book sale, sponsored musical programs, assisted in planning various film series, and in many other ways provided both financial assistance and moral support to the Library.

John Tucker continued as librarian until his resignation as of December 1, 1970, at which time he was succeeded by Marian Stevens.

Page 141

With all this activity, it is no surprise that the Library was soon once again outgrowing its temporary quarters. In her report for 1972, Marian Stevens observed that "community residents ... find it hard to believe that a 'real' library collection could be housed in such unprepossessing quarters".

After considerable study, in June the following year the Township Supervisors and Library Board concluded that the best solution was a new especially designed facility, to be located in the Township's Strafford Park. Mitchell/Giurgola were selected as architects for the project in June of 1974, and preliminary drawings were presented by them two months later. Their proposed building was contemporary in design, in the form of an arc along the crest of the hill, wrapped around the open space of the park. Around the circumference of the arc is space for office and work areas; adjacent to them are the stacks and small reading rooms; and on the inside of the arc is a sunken curve, with cushioned benches from which one can look out over the park. The building was designed to provide space for 75,000 books, with a seating capacity of 82. On the lower floor is storage space, and also meeting rooms capable of accommodating 100 persons. The design of the building was to earn its architects the National Award of Merit from the American Institute of Architects in 1978, and also the First Award by the Pennsylvania Society of Architects.

In the following April construction contracts were awarded. At that time the Board of Supervisors also authorized a bond issue of $1,650,000 "for the construction and equipment of a new public library" and other capital improvements. To provide additional furniture and equipment for the Library more than $65,000 was also raised in gifts and donations from the community. Formal ground-breaking ceremonies were held on May 10, 1975.

After almost a year and a half of construction, in October 1976 the building was completed and the Library's collections moved into it from the old Strafford School. The move was a real community effort, with volunteers helping transport the books and other items in their cars and station waqons. Formal opening day ceremonies were held on October 17.

The availability of meeting rooms added a new dimension to the Library's services to the community and its place as a community center. Among the groups taking advantage of the rooms durinq the first year were various civic associations, the League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women, Indian Guides, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and garden clubs. The rooms became so popular that soon the Board had to give priority for their use to non-profit organizations, and preference to meetinqs that were open to the Dublic.

With provision for access by the handicapped a feature of the new building, a policy of no fees for handicapped persons, regardless of place of residence, was adopted. At that time only a few libraries had facilities to accommodate people using wheel chairs.

By 1980 the collections also included video-cassettes as a part of the Library's audio-visual material.

Page 142

But the Library had also entered the electronic age in other ways. As early as in the fall of 1978 the traditional card catalogue was supplemented by a Computer Output Microfilm Catalog (known as "COMCAT"), and four years later this system, in turn, was replaced by the Patron Access Computer catalog. This computerized catalog enables users to locate books electronically simply by typing in the author, title, or subject. With this new system, circulation control at both the Tredyffrin and the Chester County Library was also computerized, with the introduction of the so-called "zebra codes". The system also makes it possible not only to keep a daily log of overdue books and to automatically send out past-due notices to the borrower, but also to prevent people with long-overdue books from checking out additional titles or items.

Computers for personal use -- as well as courses on how to use them -- were also added to the Library's services to the public, and last year online searching, whereby it is possible to tap into data banks outside the Library to retrieve information by means of a computer hook-up, was also made available. Through it previously unavailable information can now be obtained, in most cases within 24 hours.

At the same time, the Library has continued to serve its customers in the more traditional ways. Last year the total circulation of books and other material surpassed 200,000 for the year for the first time, and the number of books on the shelves available for circulation now exceeds 72,500.

As the Tredyffrin Public Library enters its third decade, it continues to provide for "the informal educational and recreational needs" of the community -- and with material and services that go far beyond "an organized and useful collection of printed items and other materials"!