ABOUT SLATINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

A Day in the Life of Our Library

Visitors to the Slatington Public Library enjoy browsing through our aisles of children, juvenile, and adult collections, including books, audiobooks, DVDs, magazines, and newspapers, shopping in our used book "store", or working on one of our 17 public computers.  Our librarians are happy to assist with searches and research and are available to offer technical support on the computer.  We welcome and encourage local organizations to use our library's modest presentation area which features a pull-down screen with PowerPoint projection, a document camera, and magnetic white boards.  

MEET YOUR LIBRARY:  SLATINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

Located in the downtown historic district, the Slatington Public Library has been serving the Northern Lehigh area for more than 80 years.

The Slatington Public Library’s current building, located at 650 Main St., is the former Miller’s 5 & 10 store. The library features the store’s original architecture and tin ceiling, carefully restored by volunteers from the community in 1985. The building was built and dedicated to the public in 1897.

“Our library has moved a few times over the years,” said library Director Rosanne Pugh.

She noted that the library’s last location was the town’s old post office, located one block away from its current building. The library moved to the old post office when it was officially incorporated in 1962.

The predecessor to the library that we know today, the Salem Welsh Presbyterian Church’s Ladies’ Bible Group, began a library in 1936 with just 50 books — but had grown large enough to donate 2,000 books to the community’s public library less than 30 years later.

Today, the library’s public space is located on the main floor of what used to be the retail store. The main level features an open book and display area, a children’s play corner with toys and scheduled story times and a small meeting space.

The library is staffed by two employees, Pugh and Librarian Louise Bechtel; board members also work at the library when necessary.

“It’s just the two of us, so everyone knows us. We say that it’s like ‘Cheers,’” Bechtel said, pausing to greet a patron by name as she walked in the door.

“We’re good listeners,” said Pugh, who added that sometimes it’s helpful to get a different perspective if you’re trying to solve a problem or find something.

“People say that librarians know anything. That’s not true. We do know how to find almost anything though.”

The center of the library’s open floor plan is dedicated to a large computer workstation.

“We have 11 PCs, three Apples, and two computers to search the catalog,” said Pugh, who added that each computer has access to a printer and scanner. “You don’t have to fight over computer time.”

These computers and desks and chairs were originally purchased through a grant by Jenny’s Heroes. Slatington police officer Daniel Buglio applied for the grant in 2008, asking for a computer lab to help Slatington residents and children who do not have or could not afford a computer to have access to one. More recent technology upgrades were done through a Trexler Trust fund grant.

Children use the computers to do school work and research, and connect with friends online. Adults frequently visit the library to apply for jobs or public assistance, and complete basic online tasks such as vehicle registration. The library also sees a surge in computer use during tax season, when patrons find forms or file their taxes online.

“If you want to apply for a job, you’ve got to apply online,” said Pugh.

The Slatington Public Library is part of a greater consortium, which connects us with other local libraries for the sharing of books.  Books belonging to other libraries in our consortium can be delivered to and returned at our library, so patrons who search for books unavailable in our library, do not have to leave town to find them.

Slatington is part of the state’s interlibrary loan program, offering access to almost any book, and also offering online databases such as Power Library, Power Teens, Power Kids, Ancestry, and HeritageQuest.

Cardholders in each Carbon or Lehigh library can download free books and magazines from the Carbon Lehigh Downloadable Library, Libby.

The library hosts a variety of programs throughout the year, including author visits, a monthly Book Club, a Geneology Club, the Woman's Club Arts Festival, estate planning and medicare programs, in addition to other special presentations.  For children, there is preschool story hour (6 weeks in fall and 6 weeks in spring), the Wonderful World of Wildlife program in the summer for children up to fifth grade, a  Dr. Seuss Birthday Party, and a visit from Mrs. Claus.  Our commitment to early literacy is sincere.  We recently launched a new early literacy program, 1000 BOOKS BEFORE KINDERGARTEN.

The library has an ongoing book sale. Buyers can purchase one hardcover book for $1, or a paperback for 50 cents — or fill a bag with books for $5.

We would welcome a Friends of the Library organization to help us with fundraisers, projects, window displays, and programs.  

The library sends out annual  Fund Drive mailings. The Slatington library relies heavily on the support of its community to remain open and continue to provide free programs and current books and magazines for borrowing.

The Slatington Public Library is located at 650 Main St. in Slatington. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays; and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

For more information, contact the library at 610-767-6461 or slatlib@ptd.net, or visit www.slatingtonlibrary.org.