History:
In 1810 Daniel Hoyt, grandfather of Governor Henry Hoyt (18th PA Governor, 1879 to 1883) met with his friends at his home to form a library group so that their community on “this side of the Endless Mountains” could have the mutual benefits of books.
Ninety-nine years later, his grandson, Mr. Frank Weston Hoyt (1st cousin of Governor Henry Hoyt) donated the family homestead, where that very meeting was held, to the Kingston Borough to be a library. People on the west side of the river certainly were interested in a new library which would be more accessible to them; but, Kingston officials were totally unprepared for the enthusiasm demonstrated on that cold morning in January. When the doors of the Library were opened for the first time, hundreds of people were waiting in a line that extended from the entrance to encircle the entire city block.
However, quite a bit has changed since the library initially opened in 1928.
The Hoyt has continued to flourish and expand to meet the needs of its patrons. In 1963, through the concentrated effort of many local benefactors, funds were raised for the refurbishing of a major portion of the library with emphasis on both enhancing the historical building and adding to the library’s collection. It was at this time that a prominent attorney, William P. Brewster, donated The Brewster Collection to the Hoyt, significantly increasing the reference materials at the library.
In 1987, a capital campaign was successfully completed enabling the library to add a Children’s Wing. This beautiful new addition allowed the Hoyt Library to be all inclusive in its service to all age groups.
Unfortunately, on Valentine’s Day 2007 there was a snow storm that led to a roof collapse of the late 1980’s addition. The library then rebuilt and re-opened in 2009 enabling it to “access the world” in much more modern and streamlined fashion.
Currently, in addition to the books, periodicals, audio/video tapes and extensive reference materials, the Hoyt has developed a local area network of several computers, which allows Internet access for reference and research which includes Wi-Fi capabilities. In addition, it has online catalog capacity that facilitates finding and borrowing books from any library in Pennsylvania.
The collection now includes thousands of volumes and is central to the education, recreation, and life enrichment of its patrons throughout the region.
