Lifelong Learning
The Sewickley Public Library—recently awarded
the PA Forward Bronze Star designation from the
Pennsylvania Library Association—continues to
provide excellent resources and programs to the
community. | BY NICOLE TAFE
T
he Sewickley Public Library has
served the Quaker Valley community
for 145 years since its origins with
the arrival of a whiskey boat at the Saw
Mill landing one Saturday evening in the
winter of 1872-1873. The Young Men’s
Library Association was formed in 1873
and rented a room for library services at
the Mozart Hall—located at the corner
of Beaver and Broad streets. It was later
moved to a building next door called
Choral Hall.
In 1923 the library formally moved
to its present location, a building given
by William L. Clause in memory of his
wife, Elizabeth Ann Clause. Osborne and
Edgeworth school districts also supported
the library until 1956, at which time a
jointure of 11 municipalities comprising
Aleppo, Bell Acres, Edgeworth,
Glenfield, Haysville, Leet, Leetsdale,
Osborne, Sewickley, Sewickley Heights
and Sewickley Hills formed the Quaker
Valley School District. In 1967, the
Quaker Valley School District Board
of Directors designated the Sewickley
Public Library as its agency to provide
public library service to district residents
and taxpayers and resolved to maintain or
assist in the maintenance of the library.
Today, the Sewickley Public Library
offers an extensive variety of programs,
services and collections to meet the needs
of the community. Naturally, the library
has a large collection of books for all
ages, but the library extends far beyond
Library users of all ages participated in the Butterfly Project. The program was
brought to the library through a partnership with The Holocaust Center of
Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Country Library Association.
the printed page. “Our growing ebook
and eaudiobook collections have seen
a dramatic increase in use over the past
few years, and we continue to expand
our selection of Blu-ray and DVDs,” says
Richelle Klug, Communications and
Social Media Librarian. “The library
also provides free access to a variety of
databases—including full online access
to The New York Times, archived copies
of the Sewickley Herald dating back to
1903, the popular collection of online
education courses Lynda.com, one-on-
one tutoring through tutor.com, and
a large collection of educational and
research databases.”
In addition to the library’s collections,
the venue offers a wide range of
community programs to engage, inform
and educate library users. The programs
extend beyond popular book clubs
and children’s storytimes, and include
sessions on computer courses, crafting,
World Affairs lectures, gardening, gaming,
movie screenings, cooking, knitting,
health topics and much more. “Our
One-On-One with a Librarian sessions
have become very popular,” says Klug.
“Also known as Tech Cafés and Resume
Cafés, library users are able to schedule
times to work directly with one of our
well-educated librarians for assistance
with technology issues—from learning
The Sewickley Public Library received news earlier this year of the award of a bequest from The Raymond C. and Martha S.
Suckling Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, providing generous funding to the library in perpetuity. The Board of Directors
has spent 2018 gathering patron, staff and community input to decide how best to implement the bequest to the benefit of all.
Priorities on the horizon include expansion of the teen department to better serve the needs of patrons in grades 6 through 12,
the addition of more quiet study spaces, as well as flexible spaces that can be used for a variety of programming. The board will
continue to seek input as plans move forward for updating library spaces to accommodate the changing needs of patrons.
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