Phoenixville Revisited!

Two years ago I blogged on the public library in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, the first library I ever worked at (2004-05). This year I made a return visit and met up with some former colleagues. Despite budget cuts, they seem to be busier than ever (pretty much the same story everywhere!). Here are some pix I snapped during my visit.

Don't you just love these houses that Carnegie built?
Well, he didn't build them but his money did!

Entrance to the "new" addition to the original Carnegie building.

Choose your route...upstairs to the adult library or down the stairs to the children's area.

The stacks in the old part of the building.

I think I know this woman!

A few of the library's workstations with the bulk of the DVD collection in the background.

Yours truly with the man that started it all, Phoenixville Library Director John Kelley.

Andrew Carnegie was here!

Well, even if Mr. Carnegie wasn't here, he is the reason the library stands today. Beginning in 1883, he funded over 2,500 libraries around the world and I am proud to say that my very first library job was in one of them! Completed in 1902, the original building houses its adult fiction collection and serves as a reading room along with the reference desk. The basement was turned into the children's library during the 1920s and other expansions were introduced over the years. In 1978, the library joined the Chester County consortium of 17 libraries; they do however still maintain their own website @ http://www.phoenixvillelibrary.org

If you're wondering, the last picture shows what happens when the computers go down during the Christmas holiday! Aaaarrgghh!