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History
History
Original
Building
The Lansdale Public Library Opened on August 25, 1928, with
1,000 books available to the public for circulation. It was
located in one room of the borough building on Courtland and
Montgomery Streets. Members of the Lansdale Women's Club, and
others donated their time, books and money to start the
library. The library was supported by a $1 membership fee and
donations. Volunteers staffed the circulation desk, and a
school teacher was employed part-time to classify books. On
April 6, 1946, the library expanded into a second room.
Lansdale voters approved a one-mil tax support, in 1955, for
the library's annual budget.
Second
Building
Due to large increases in materials and usage, a new building
was erected at Vine Street and Montgomery Avenue. The cost
$68,759 was completely paid through donations, mostly from a
bequest by Walter L. Sanborn. The library opened on September
2, 1958, with 11,000 volumes and 46 magazine subscriptions.
Third
Building
As the library collection and circulation continued to grow,
the library board once again considered expanding. A decision
was made to give Lansdale Borough the old library building
($85,000) in exchange for a former Acme Supermarket Building
($105,000) that could be renovated to house the library. The
former library was converted to be used by the Lansdale Police
Department. The $150,000 cost to renovate the building, which
tripled the library's former size, was paid for by memorials.
Lansdale Public Library moved into its present location, at 301
Vine Street, on April 20, 1972, with 27,000 materials.
Current
Building
The Library was again renovated in 1997 to add more space for a
larger Children's and Teen section. Nearly half of the million
dollar cost for renovation was paid for through donations; the
other half was paid through a bank loan. The library is now
being supported by Lansdale Borough appropriations and through
taxes. The Lansdale Public Library's collection now contains
49,555 materials, of which 2,779 are videos, audio books, CDs
and DVDs. The library also subscribes to 156 magazines and 6
newspapers. The Lansdale Public Library automated the
circulation system and created an interactive web page in 2002.
In 2003, a 5 computer laptop network was added. A section was
created for 3 children's computers in 2004 and in 2005 a Wi-Fi
Network was added. There are currently 19 employees and 25
computers for patron use.
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1st paid librarian
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Carol Weinert
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1952
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1st full time librarian
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Elva May Smith
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1952-1960
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Successor librarian
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Mrs. Richard C. Mallery
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1960-1967
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1st librarian to serve as director
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Peter Manakos
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1968-1997
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2nd library director
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Debbie Ahrens
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1998-2000
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Current director
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Anne M. Frank
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2000-present
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