Open house marks library’s 100 years
PROSPECT — Prospect Community Library director Shari Hunt and Dru Bryan, president of the library board, said the library will mark its 100th year of operation with an open house Saturday, Nov. 5.
Running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the open house will feature cake, punch, coffee, prizes and a pictorial history of the library from its creation in 1922 to its present location at 357 Main St.
Bryan said in addition to the public the library is inviting “officials for the local townships and from other libraries to come and see how things have changed in the library since they’ve last been here.”
Bryan said the library was formed in 1922 by the Prospect Community Women’s Club, which itself was formed just to promote and maintain a library.
“The library was in the ladies’ homes, and books would travel from home to home,” Bryan said. “The women considered education very important.”
“Later, the library was housed in various storefronts in town. It was moved to the Prospect Community Building where it stayed until the 1960s, when the building was torn down,” Bryan said.
The library moved to its present location in 1971 where half of the present building was constructed. The library outgrew its space, and in 1990 an addition with a basement was constructed. The extra room holds adult collections and space for the library’s programs.
“It does truly take a village,” Bryan said. “We have to thank the woman’s club ladies and their spouses, the various businesses that have helped the library, Prospect Borough, Franklin and Muddy Creek townships, the many volunteers and friend groups, the Prospect Fire Company and the electrician and plumbing business that have done work at the library pro bono or for heavily discounted prices.”
Bryan said she herself has been on the library board for 20 years.
“My mother was in the woman’s club and helped to build the library. It’s a family thing. I’ve been in the woman’s club for 35, 40 years,” she said.
Hunt now runs the library with the help of part-time children’s librarian Suzanne Adams and volunteers.
Hunt said she started as a library volunteer in 2013, became an assistant librarian in 2015 and was named director in April. She’s working on her library assistant certification through Northampton Community College.
Today, Hunt said, the Prospect Community Library serves the residents of the boroughs of Prospect and Portersville and Franklin and Muddy Creek townships.
Hunt said the library has programs for children, teens and adults. There is an ABC story time as well as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) for younger children, a monthly Books With Bunnies event where children read stories to rabbits and learn about rabbit care, and a teen advisory board and book club.
Hunt said there is a monthly crafts night and a scrapbook group for adults.
“We also have a cookbook club. People choose recipes from a cookbook and make them. Then we have a sit-down potluck dinner to try the dishes,” Hunt said.
Although the library receives funding from the state, county and local municipalities, Hunt and Bryan said fundraisers are important to the library.
The library has an annual book sale in the spring and fall and is trying to turn a pancake breakfast into an annual event. The library is also trying to revive its “Books and Ladders” event at the Prospect fire hall featuring local bands, raffles and firefighter-made food. The event was derailed in recent years by the coronavirus pandemic.
The library has also been involved in the Bookfest at the Butler Farm Show grounds.
Bryan said the library owes its longevity to friends of the library groups, government support, local organizations such as the Rotary Club of Prospect-Portersville and dedicated employees such as the late Jean Sarnese, who was library director for 22 years.
“They helped build this library up,” she said.
