Ron Reiff
HISTORY-THE STORY OF THE HUMAN RACE, IN CONFLICT WITH NATURE AND WITH ITS OWN ELEMENTAL PASSIONS BUT EVER ASPIRING
Those words greet you above the entrance to where research leads to learning. The Warren Public Library.
From 1830 when Thomas Struthers assembled notable community founders to create it, to yesterday when a team of today’s leadership assured local patrons that the best possible service would continue. The Warren Public Library has grown to be an integral Warren advantage.
In 1914 the need for more services than the Library Theatre building could provide led to a new plan. A centrally located plot just north of the Conewango Club on Market Street was donated by the DeFrees family and construction of the building we use today began.
Until the present building was finished the library stacks were closed. If you wanted a book, the librarian found it for you. Once the new facility opened, locals could find the book they wanted themselves. For the first time, the card catalog and the Dewey Decimal system became key elements of the library experience. I still remember the first time I actually looked up a book in the card catalog, got the number, and found it! It was Bram Stoker’s Dracula! It was a lot scarier than the movie!
For all of us we remain in debt to men and women who had visions of what Warren, PA could become. I wonder what Thomas Struthers would think of it today! I often wonder what might be next for libraries. Warren’s Library keeps doing all it can to add state-of-the-art services that make a trip to it a relevant and even exciting experience.
As they say: START HERE GO ANYWHERE!
