At the Thursday lunch meeting this month the speaker for our meeting was Chelsea Williams, Director of the Hamburg Public Library. Ms. Williams started her presentation by telling the Hamburg Rotarians about the history of the library. The Hamburg Library is the second oldest library in Berks county and was founded in 1903 with a $10,000 donation from Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie only agreed to the donation after the community agreed to fund the future of the library. Both Carnegie and the local community believed that a library was a vital part of the community. Today the library provides a wide range of services to the local community. In addition to offering a wide selection of books, audiobooks, music CDs, and DVDs, other services are public computers, WiFi access, faxing, photocopying, reference services, and adult and children programming.
Ms. Williams also told our group about the library's expansion plans. he Library is planning to expand the facility to allow it to comply with the ADA by providing additional access for those not able to use the stairs at the main entrance. The expansion will also add more space for meeting rooms and more books.
As Rotarians we believe in supporting the community and the by supporting the library and its mission to provide services to Northern Berks County. Every year the Hamburg Rotary has made a donation to the Hamburg library. This year the Hamburg Rotary increased the donation to $1,000. In the picture President Tom Roth is presenting Director Chelsea Williams with a check for $1,000.