Cleve J. Fredricksen Library

Mission:

To enrich our community by providing access to a comprehensive collection of educational and recreational information resources & programs.

Philosophy:

Our philosophy is to improve the quality of the life in our 6 communities by responding to their changing needs for information, education & entertainment.

History:

Over fifty years ago, the Camp Hill Library began as a tribute. James Patterson donated $500 to memorialize his wife Betty Snowden Patterson and her love of books, and the Camp Hill Civil Club requested shelf space at the Schaeffer Elementary School. Additional books were donated by the Camp Hill Civic Club, various volunteers, the Junior Civic Club, and the Woman's Club. On April 16, 1957, a charter was signed by Judge Robert Lee Jacobs, and the Camp Hill Library was officially born.

The Library quickly outgrew its space at Schaeffer, so the Camp Hill American Legion offered room in its Log Cabin Home on South 22nd Street. Then in 1959, the Library moved to an even larger room behind the stage in the high school. By the end of 1967, the Library moved, once again, into its own building on North 31st Street. Known as the West Shore Public Library, it served residents of Camp Hill Borough, East Pennsboro Township, Hampden Township, Lemoyne Borough, Lower Allen Township, and Wormleysburg Borough. Nineteen years later, in October 1985, a branch library was opened in the East Pennsboro Township Municipal Building.

Four decades later, as the Library's collection, services, programs, and usage increased, so did the need, once again, for more space. By the year 2000, an ambitious campaign was launched for $6.4 million to build a new library. Thanks to generous gifts from the Fredricksen Foundation, Mrs. Grace Milliman Pollock, and many other donors, the doors of the Cleve J. Fredricksen Library opened in January 2001 where Lincoln Elementary School once stood. With the increasing demand for additional materials, programs, and services, future expansion is being discussed once again!