History
Ourlibrary has a very interesting and fact filled history. Here you can learn about the happenings over the years the Jane Morgan Memorial Library has been up and running.
The following information was taken from the "A History of Cambria" book, which was written in 1976.
In 1895 the Cambria News advocated the opening of a reading room for the young people of the community. A few years later, Mr. Streeter, the editor, started one in his office. About fifty books were donated at the time and some where obtained from the traveling library in Portage. Within a few weeks it became so popular that he couldn't care for it along with his other work, so the books were moved to Mrs. Morgan's store and Miss Myfanwy became the first librarian at the rate of $8.00 a month in 1904.
In 1916, a group of interested Cambria citizens met to form a Library Board for the village. This group consisted of Mr. E. O. Roberts, Mrs. A. G. Hokins, Mrs. E. M. Cox, Mr. T. D. Morris, Miss Elinor Lloyd and Mrs. R. C. Owen. Mr. E. O. Roberts was elected president; Mrs. E. M. Cox, vice-president; Mrs. R. C. Owen, secretary; and Mrs. A. G. Hopkins, treasurer. They drew lots to see who should go out of office at the end of 1 year, 2 years, and three years. At that time the library was located in the Lindenlaub Millinery Store.
During the formative years money was not plentiful, so through the Shakespeare Clubs, Mrs. Streeter promoted the donation of books while the Library Board had teas, bake sales and tag days to provide funds. In 1917 the Village Board made an appropriation of $200 and in 1919 this was raised to $270. In 1923 Mrs. Mary Cottam was elected librarian; she served until 1940 when she resigned, and Mrs. Myfanwy Archer was elected to the post. In 1943 Mr. Robert Tarrant bought and donated the building where the library is now housed after it had been renovated and equipped. The library was on the ground floor, the upstairs is for meeting and club rooms and the basement for housing the offices of the village water and street commissions(This has changed now). The Jane Morgan Memorial Library, in honor of Mrs. Tarrant's mother, was then complete. After a beginning which consisted of 50 books, the library now owns 13,183 volumes, classified and catalogued by the present staff.
The present circulation is 7,294. There is a clipping file catalogued and filed alphabetically in manila folders on a wide range of subjects. Note: read the paragraph after these articles to find out how books are shelved today in the 90s and the 2000's.
The shelves have been much enriched with gifts of collections from Mrs. Tarrant, Mrs. Bernice Lloyd, Mrs. E. A. Rowlands and many fine individual gifts. Financial support, besides gifts of money, comes from the annual appropriations from the Cambria Village Board and support gifts from the Townships of Randolph, Scott, Courtland, Springvale and the Village of Friesland
