Abington Community Library

Abington Community Library 1200 West Grove St. Clarks Summit, PA 18411 570-587-3440 The Library, originally located in a storefront in what had been the Abington Fabric Store at 420 State Street in Clarks Summit (now the Young Funeral Home parking lot), opened its doors with 75 donated books on June 18, 1960. The Library will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2010! The Abington Community Library is incorporated and has three boards. Library business is conducted by a Board of Directors. The Friends of the Abington Community Library (started in 1972) is primarily involved with fundraising through their semi-annual book sales. The Abington Community Library ~ Teen Leadership Committee (begun in June of 2002), serves as a teen advisory. This active teen advisory board plans and conducts book discussions and special programs for teens. In addition, the teen board plans and holds special programs for younger children. The popular “American Girl” events and “Pirate Day” are examples, rounding out a full palette of lifelong learning and entertainment. The Abington Community Library is a member of the Lackawanna County Library System, a federated system formed in 1982. The Library holds membership in American Library Association, the Pennsylvania Library Association, and the Public Library Association. In 2005 the Library became a member of the Abington Business and Professionals Association. The current Library is located in a building constructed in 1991 on donated property, which opened March 2, 1992. It contains two community meeting rooms frequently used by local non-profit organizations and Library sponsored programs. A children’s wing was added in 2002. 55 parking spaces are available and handicap accessible power doors add to patron convenience. Support for the Library is provided by Lackawanna County & the State of Pennsylvania. Local Support includes Municipal Support and an Annual Fund Drive. The Library currently has a staff of eight full-time staff, and twenty part-time staff including pages. Four staff members have master’s degrees in Library and Information Science. The Library collection holds a total of over 82,000 items, including books, non-circulating reference books, DVDs and videocassettes, talking books on CD and cassette, music CDs, filmstrips, and over 100 different periodical titles. The Library has also added two ways to download talking books onto computers/MP3 players/iPods and two databases for Genealogy research: Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest. The Library has a microfilm/fiche reader and back issues of the Scranton Times. InterLibrary loan helps meet the needs of our patrons, with books supplied from around the county and state. Reference collections are found in both the adult and children’s areas, with qualified reference assistance available for Library users. The Library has 12 public access Internet workstations for adult users and 5 for children. The workstations also have direct access to Pennsylvania Power Library, a collection of databases provided through Commonwealth Libraries and are loaded with Microsoft programs. In 2006 the Library received free wireless Internet access for patrons, compliments of Frontier Communications Numerous programs for patrons of all ages are planned routinely, including: Story Hour sessions are held Monday through Friday throughout the year during the day with occasional evening programs. Special summer story hours for patrons of all ages are held during June and July. Summer and winter reading programs are available and numerous book discussions for all ages are available frequently. Many other free special and educational programs are offered to patrons throughout the year. Program offerings are found on our website under Library Events. Monthly calendars and quarterly newsletters are also available on the website. The Library is open 71 hours each week. Holidays and early closings are posted on our website, www.lclshome.org/abington. Hours of operation are: Monday – Friday (9 AM. to 9 PM), Saturday (9 AM to 5 PM.). and Sunday (2 PM to 5 PM.). The Abington Community Library is an award-winning library! The Lackawanna County Commissioners issued a proclamation declaring September 12, 2006, "Abington Community Library Day" in response to the Library's recognition as one of three libraries to receive the annual Marketing Award from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries in June 2006. In 2007 the Library recognized new IDEAL PATRONs: First Lady Laura Bush, and the Honorable Tom Ridge and his wife Michele. The Library has also been recognized in the JOURNAL’S Best of the Abingtons for Child-centered Activities, Librarian and runner-up. The Abington Community Library …. Committed to your lifelong learning!