The section of South Park Township known as Library was named because of the presence of a private library collection in the home of John Moore. Around 1833 John Moore began a fund to purchase books and subsequently became the first librarian of the new collection. Other members of the community added to the library, so the number of volumes grew to about 2,000. This neighborhood group of library members formed a "Library Society". The last librarian in this era was Samuel Wilson, a blacksmith who stored the collection in his stable.
In January, 1978, the South Park Township Library, under the auspices of the Township, moved to its present location at 2575 Brownsville Road. Without the volunteer services offered by the community, the move would not have been accomplished as quickly and easily. The organizational relationship between the Township government and the library was a lso altered. The Township assumed direct responsibility for the employment of a full-time professional librarian and a part-time clerk. The librarian was still dependent on volunteers to man the library depending on the amount of hours opened. The Library Board became an official council under the State Library Code and is directly responsible for the activities of the library. Three more staff positions were added to the library through the acceptance of a CETA Grant.
The Friends of the Library were overjoyed with the prospect of a new library building and succeeded in raising the money for the Donor Drive to furnish the library. They continue to this day to provide the library with Story Times, Craft Classes, Fund-raising projects and volunteers to support the library in conjunction with the objectives created by the founders of this organization.
Vision :
The South Park Township Library's
vision statement was developed as a means to measure the success and
usefulness of itself within the community. This states that
"By 2010, we will double our overall circulation."
Mission :
The South Park Township Library believes that this vision statement goes hand in hand with the following mission statement.
