Happy 50^th Birthday to Three Local Libraries

In 2017, Dauphin County Library System is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of three of its libraries. In 1967, under the direction of Executive Director Dean C. Gross, three permanently established branch libraries were opened to the public. These three libraries, all based in shopping centers, opened within one week of each other in October of 1967. The first to open was the Colonial Park Branch Library which was based in the Colonial Park Shopping Center. Following quickly were the Kline Village Branch Library in the Kline Village Plaza on 29^th Street in Harrisburg and the Harrisburg Uptown Branch Library which opened in the Uptown Plaza on 7^th Street, also in Harrisburg.

All three of these libraries have since moved into free standing buildings that can house a much bigger collection of items and offer the wider variety of services and technology that the modern library user requires. The East Shore Area Library was opened, in a building adjacent to the shopping mall on Ethel Street, in March of 1976 in the first new library building to be erected as part of the Dauphin County Library System since its founding in 1914. In March of 2001, the Kline Library moved to a free-standing building of its own a short distance from the plaza of its birth. And the Harrisburg Uptown Branch Library changed its name and location in September of 2006 becoming the Madeline L. Olewine Memorial Library with a new home in a residential area of North Third Street in Harrisburg.

These three libraries, along with the five other libraries that now comprise the Dauphin County Library System, welcomed more than 675,000 visitors in 2016 and lent more than 1.1 million items to its 138,816 cardholders. The Library provides residents of Dauphin County with free access to virtually any materials imaginable, both current and ageless. It has books, movies, music, magazines, online access, people to help with research and programs to help the community grow. Join The Library in celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of these three libraries as it continues to provide public library service in Dauphin County by remembering the past, and looking forward to the future.

The Library is the place to satisfy your curiosity.

Looking for some content to help you celebrate the birthdays of these locations? We made some lists for you!

Birthday titles for Children

Birthday titles for Teens

Titles from 1967, the year that these locations opened