42—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 25, 1977
Library facility at Qwarryvi
serves southern Lancaster
irt
Melanie Moyer (left), project
supervisor; Sherrie Snyder, con
sultant for the Lancaster County
Library Extension Department; and
By SUSAN KAUFFMAN
Feature Writer
“The community support
is fantastic, it is really great;
more than any of us could
ever have expected,” says
Fran Entrekin, coordinator
of the newly opened Southern
Lancaster County Library
Center. She summed up what
has been a year-long suc
cessful attempt to open a
reading center for the
Southern Lancaster County
residents.
At 304 St. Catherine Street,
Quarryville, stands a brand
new library filled with 3,000
new hard-bou-d books,
many records, pamphlets,
paperback books, films and
cassettes, current
magazines, reference
materials, and even puppets.
The modular building is fully
equipped with air
conditioning, and is built to
give easy access to han
dicapped individuals con
fined to wheelchairs. There
are special lounge chairs for
youngsters to use when
browsing through books, as
well as record players, a film
projector, and many
displays throughout the
center.
The brightly colored
oranges, reds, browns, and
whites of the interior of the
reading center make it an
attractive place to browse,
read, view a film, or leam a
craft. The library is not
simply a room full of books
but a place for opportunities
to explore with sights,
sounds, and the printed
word.
Recently Lancaster
Farming spoke with Fran
Entrekin, library co
ordinator at the Southern
Lancaster County Reading
Center; Melanie Moyer,
project supervisor; and
Sherri Snyder, consultant at
the Lancaster County
Library Extension Depart
ment to find out how this new
building, its contents, and
goals came to be.
As is the case with most
federally funded programs,
much paperwork, public
speaking, and endless
meetings preceded the
reality of the finished
product. But all three young
women involved
unanimously agreed that the
fantastic community support
is what really made the
undertaking work.
Fran Entrekin, library center coor
dinator, discuss the Summer's
reading project.
In 1976, the Lancaster
County Library system
which includes the main
library in Lancaster City and
eight reading centers in
Adamstown, Intercourse,
Leola, Manheim, Manheim
Township, Mountville,
Rohrerstown, and
Strasburg, received federal
funds through a grant from
the Library Construction Act
to open a new reading center
at some town with a
population of under 2000 in
the county. Five places were
selected as possibilities, and
the Extension Department of
the Library went out to these
municipalities to take their
proposals to the borough or
town councils.
Support was immediate at
Quarryville. The borough
offered the land for the
building site, named in
dividuals who might be
willing to help organize the
center in the form of an
advisory committee, and
promised financial
assistance after the 12-
month long grant expires.
Although the building is
within the borough limits of
Quarryville, the new library
actually serves the greater
Solanco area including nine
townships and the borough,
or a population of nearly
18,000 people.'
The real need for and
interest in this type of
project has been demon
strated by statistics from the
first six months of operation.
The average circulation of
the other staffed reading
Reading, in itself,
creates fantasy lands of
new ideas and make
believe worlds, but this
Summer, children from
the ages of seven
through 14 will actually
be able to read their
ways into the tangible
Fantasyland located
near Gettysburg.
The program involved
is the Southern Lan
caster County Library
Center’s Summer
reading program which
will be held from July 5
through August 13.
The participants must
read six books - three
fiction and three non
fiction, all on the child’s
reading level - and a
short review of each
The newly opened Southern Lancaster County
Library is a modular building decorated with
brightly colored modernistic furniture. These
comfortable lounge chairs offer a tempting seat for
browsing through books and displays.
centers in the Lancaster
County system is 500 books
per month. Immediately
upon opening, the library at
Quarryville tallied 2000 to
2500 books per month in
circulation.
To Mrs. Moyer and Mrs.
Snyder, the two women in
the Lancaster County
Library Extension Depart-
work must be written.
The forms for this
review are available at
the library center.
Everyone par
ticipating will also
receive mobiles at the
beginning of the
Summer program. As
each book is read, a new
section will be added to
the hanging artwork.
Certificates and free
Fantasy land passes will
be awarded on August
13th at the library
center.
Anyone interested in
the program can take
part in registration on
July 5 at the library
center, 304 St. Catherine
Street, Quarryville.
For the readers’ enjoyment, 3000 records, pamphlets, paP
new hard-bound books stock the books, films and casettes, '
shelves of the library center in magazines, reference materia*
Quarryville. The facility also offers puppets.
ment who worked with this
project, the before
mentioned statistics proved
that opening an attractive
library which contains a
quality collection and is
operated by a competent,
paid staff member is a
formula for success.
Mrs. Entrekin, local co
ordinator of the library at
Quarryville, lives at Pequea,
Rl. She received a degree in
library science from
Millersville State College,
and for a time worked at
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology developing a
scientific library there.
Presently her job as library
co-ordinator at the new
reading center involves a 25-
hour work week in which she
schedules the volunteers to
cover the hours the library is
open, sets up special
programs to be used at the
library or from the library
facilities and taken to public
schools and nursery schools,
writes press releases for
promotion of programs, and
handles the requests for
special materials by
patrons.
Presently, there are 30
volunteers who staff the
library during the 31 hours
each week the library is
open. Mrs. Entrekin explains
that she always tries to have
two volunteers, adult as well
as school students, oh duty at
the same time to help the
patrons. She says, “I really,
could use more volunteers,
now. We are very busy.”
Mrs. Snyder and Mrs.
Moyer were quick to
acknowledge the enthusiasm
they received from the
public school librarians in
tiie Solancc School District.
Mrs. Moyer said they were
very supportive of the
project and were very
pleased to see such a center
open in the district. Many of
the school librarians
volunteer their time and
interest during the open
- •% Jv
V* s
v S-
hours and at
committee meetings.
“The school
ministration has b(
much in favor of v
forts,” Mrs. Snyder
“The superintendent
special greetings
center was publicized
school district news]
In addition to scl
volunteer help, Mrs,
trekin also organizes ;
programs such as
demonstrations. Sr
November 1976 op
center has held
strations ranging
macrame and cror
knitting and mak'
cone wreaths. Several
instructors were
women who had ne l
the opportunity to
class before.
“They were very
teachers!” Mrs.
commented about
tutoring.
In addition to 01
chance to learn a m
at the center during
the library also off
opportunity to view
scheduled evenings
pies of the movie far
July 1 program on
and fishing, the
cartoons, and the
oldies starring “Ou.
Shirley Temple, and
and Costello.
Many elementary
classes came to the
this Spring for ori»
and they especially v
in the puppet show pi
Mrs. Entrekin. Shi
there will be a
puppet collection ei
at the center to bi
nursery schools in
as well.
Not neglicting a
family member
youngest to the 01
center also pro
consumer awarei
formation display
(Continued on Pate
** A