Library Board and Guests Celebrate at Evening Gala

75^th anniversary banner, as hung near the Library’s entrance

    With nearly 100 guests on hand, the William Jeanes Memorial

Library of Whitemarsh Township recently celebrated the 75^th

anniversary of its founding. The highlight of this special evening

 was a keynote address offered by Elliot Shelkrot, who retired at

 the end of December after twenty years at the helm of the Free

Library of Philadelphia. Mr. Shelkrot urged the crowd to consider

that each era brings new technology, and with it, the need to

 adapt. Books, he said, will never disappear, but electronic sources,

 and the hardware used to access the digital world, now share the

 spaces once dominated by words printed on paper and bound

between two boards.  

    State Senator Vincent Hughes made a brief appearance to offer a certificate of appreciation and add his words to

 the mix. He told the audience about his own experience as a shelver at the library of the University of Pennsylvania.

 Pulling a children’s book off a nearby shelf, he talked about the importance of reading aloud to young children and

 the anticipation of turning the page to learn what happens next.

    Shelly Waldman, from State Representative Mike Gerber’s office, read a proclamation that congratulates the

Library for its years of service. Family commitments kept the Representative from attending, but new desktop

computers, funded in part through a grant facilitated by his office, provided evidence of his continuing support. 

    Donald Mattson, Jeanes Board President, graciously welcomed each of the speakers, and introduced fellow Board

members Sydelle Zove, Stan Finegold, Adele Boyd, Nancy Mortimer O’Brien, David Contosta, and new Board member

Crystal Taylor. He also acknowledged the significant role of the Friends of the Library, and thanked Margaret Berkey,

Friends President, and Irv Leventhal, Friends Liaison, for their part in planning this event.  

    Sydelle Zove, Library Board Vice President, closed the evening by asking for a show of hands from among those

gathered who had a role in the opening of the present building in 1971. Ms. Zove suggested these people deserved a

 round of applause, and the audience responded vigorously. 

    The original Jeanes Library, which opened on April 26, 1933, was located in one room of what was the Ambler

 home on Butler Pike, just west of Germantown Pike. In 1935, the Library moved to a small stone building, across the

 street on the grounds of Plymouth Monthly Meeting of Friends. With population growth, the demand for library

services took a leap, and by the 1960s, the board of directors began looking for a parcel on which to construct a

new facility. The Joshua Road building has served patrons for thirty-seven years, but once again the need for space is

driving an expansion planning process.