Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: January 1990 Volume 28 Number 1, Pages 28–30

The Paoli Library

Mimi Lang

Page 28

As the town of Paoli grew and prospered, and as space became available in the Town Hall at 18 Darby Road, a library was started as an addition to the cultural life of the community.

The property on Darby Road, built in 1892 at a cost of $715 for a mission chapel, had been purchased for use as a Town Hall in 1907 from the Presbyterians after the First Presbyterian Church had moved to its new sanctuary across Lancaster Pike. A group called the Paoli Town Association purchased "shares" to pay off a $1000 loan to buy the land and building.

Space was now available to house a fledgling library. William Shippen Roney was the leading force behind the effort to build up a collection of books with which to launch the endeavor. With 500 books from his own personal collection, 400 volumes from the old Mercantile Library of Philadelphia, and gifts from friends and neighbors, a core collection of about 1000 books made the Paoli Library a reality. [The collection today, in 1989, numbers over 26,000 volumes.] The books were in one corner of the building, and the library shared space with other groups. A wire screen was added to protect the books, and an attendant was hired to circulate books on a regular basis, beginning in 1910.

With Roney's death in 1917, his widow persuaded friends to continue the library. The collection continued to grow, all the time sharing space with other community groups. The Hall was a polling place for a while, and both private and public school classes were held there at various times. By 1920, however, the Library was the sole occupant of the building.

The group of people who had helped build the collection, raise funds, and staff the library now formed the Paoli Library Association. The Association then purchased the lot and building at 18 Darby Road for $1500. All but one member of the Paoli Town Association donated their shares to thethe Paoli Library Association. (The one lone dissenter reputedly said, "If people want books, let them go to Philadelphia!")

The Library Association was formally chartered in 1920, with representatives from both Tredyffrin and Willistown townships. There were fourteen incorporators, seven men and seven women: Mary Keating Lisle, Edward F.Bracken, John 0. Platt, Horace A. Walton, Mary F. Burns, Sarah White Coxe, Marcella B. Cilley, Mary Martin Roberts, Colket Wilson, Thomas R. Tunis, Martha J. Hoopes, Anneta McCann, Robert C. Hughes, and Richard Haughton. The Association continued to govern, maintain, and fund the library until 1980, when the library became a branch of the Tredyffrin Public Library in Strafford.

Page 29

Soon after incorporation, changes were made to make more effective use of the building as a library. Here are a few of the costs involved:

Two of these tables, incidentally, are still in use. The labor for the interior and exterior wood work was partially donated.

To insure the daily operations of the Library, a yearly membership fee of$1.00 was paid by families and individuals alike. In addition, Board members also made many sizeable contributions from time to time. There were also many fund raising efforts over the years. Card parties, book sales, bake sales, and individual gifts from business and service clubsall helped to keep the Library going. The most gala event was an open house in December of 1977 at Waynesborough.

In the 1930s, WPA workers were paid to catalogue the collection. This was the first effort to systematize the materials which were still largely gifts. The untrained workers were quided by a knowledgeable Board member, but were unable to finish cataloging all the holdings. The cards were hand-written and incomplete by today's standards, but it was a start towards an ordered collection.

The Library limped along as well as it could through the Second World War and into the '50s. This decade saw a number of significant changes. The old coal furnace was replaced by a gas heating unit in 1951. Two years later, new lighting was added; these overhead fixtures are still in use at the present time. In 1954, space at the front left of the building was partitioned off for a powder room. (But even with the advent of running water, it was 1982 before a hot water heater was installed.) Shelving and a cement floor were added to the shed. But it was in 1955 that the Board decided to make a major commitment of funds and $3500 was borrowed from the adjacent Paoli Bank [which later became the Central Penn Bank in 1970 and then the Meridian Bank in 1985] for improvements. New shelving was built for the expanding collection, and storm windows and linoleum flooring were installed. With some plastering, the entire building was painted, inside and out.

Also in 1955, a professional librarian was hired, a policy that continues to the present day. Her immediate task was to catalogue the books, a job that took two years to accomplish. By this time the collection numbered 10,000 volumes. The library was open 10-1/2 hours, but over the years the number of hours has increased steadily, and the Library is now open 51 hours a week. The annual membership fee was raised to $3.00 per family, $2.00 for a single adult, and $1.00 for a child 14 years of age or under.

Page 30

The 50th anniversary of the Paoli Library was celebrated in 1960 with various programs and an open house. A copy of a picture of Pascal Paoli, done by Henry Bambridge in 1768 for James Boswell, was given to the Library and is still on display. In addition, a framed copy of a map of the "British Camp at Tredryffrin, from the 18th to the 21st of September 1777, with the attack made by Major General Grey against the rebels near White Horse Tavern on the 20th of September. Drawn by an officer on the spot "was also a gift.

The most impressive gift in the Library's history is a ceremonial sword and bust of General Paoli. These were presented on July 4, 1966 by the mayor of Morosaglia, Corsica, Paoli's birthplace. The bust was refurbished in 1986, and a display case for the sword was also made that year.

The 1970s saw assistance from the new district library center in Exton. It has provided daily van service, assistance with book processing and cataloguing, inter-library loan help, and reference service since that time. Cooperation between the district center and other libraries in Chester County has been of immense help to smaller libraries such as the one in Paoli.

Paid memberships were also discontinued in 1974., and for the first time the library was truly free and open to the public. This was made possible mainly by funding from Tredyffrin and Willistown townships, and payment by the Central Penn Bank for use of the driveway and parking space adjacent to the Library. It was also in that year that the first telephone was installed at the Library. It was a pay phone, however, and patrons had to pay 25 cents to defray the cost of informing them when a book they had reserved was available.

As the collection grew and the number of patrons also grew, the Library was becoming quite crowded. The need for additional space was increasingly apparent. Attempts at a merger with the Tredyffrin Public Library in Strafford had been explored as early as 1965. It wasn't until 1980, however, that this dream became a reality. Since that date, Paoli has been a branch of the Tredyffrin Public Library, and has received the bulk of its funding from Tredyffrin Township. While this put the library on a firm financial basis for the first time in its history, the lack of space was still a problem.

Nevertheless, in the early 1980s a number of improvements were made to the bulding. Two different Boy Scout troops selected the library for their "community service" project. One troop painted the outside of it a light grey with darker grey sash trim, over the original white with green trim. The second troop refurbished the vestibule with a new tile floor, and plastering and painting. The roof was in bad shape and workers from Tredyffrin Township added a new roof over the two that were already on the building.

To alleviate the space problem, the Paoli Library Association in the meantime had received funds from H.U.D. to move the Library to larger quarters. This money was invested while the search for a new location was undertaken. Various sites were considered, and in 1985 the Meridian Bank offered to build a shell for the Library as a part of a new renovation project it was undertaking. Thus a unique cooperative effort between the Meridian Bank, Tredyffrin Township, and the Paoli Library Association created a new home for the Paoli Library. The Library proceeded to make plans to finish the interior of the new space, move its collection and contents out of the old building, and to vacate the premises by March of 1986.

Page 31

The question of what to do with the building that had served the Library and community so well for 75 years was now a priority. Fortunately for all concerned, the Paoli Presbyterian Church was in a position to help sponsor the physical move of the building to its property on South Valley Road. We feel very pleased that a way was found to save the building for the future at the same time that we were able to find the much-needed, new larger quarters for the Library to serve a growing community into the forseeable future.