If you spend any time in Camp Hill, you’re almost sure to sense the unique affection that borough residents have for their library, which, this year, celebrates its 60th year. So, it may be no surprise that Fredricksen itself began with a love story.
James Patterson’s wife, Betty Snowden Patterson, was an avid reader. So, after she died, he decided to preserve her memory by honoring her love of books.
He donated $500 to the Camp Hill Civic Club, which had requested shelf space at Shaeffer Elementary School. Through Patterson’s donation and book donations of other Camp Hill organizations, the library began. A charter was signed on April 16, 1957, by Judge Robert Lee Jacobs, making the library an official part of the Camp Hill community.
The library has had several homes over the years: Shaeffer Elementary, the Log Cabin on 22nd Street, a building on N. 31st Street. It grew in popularity and circulation, so by 2000, it needed a new, permanent home. The town responded, raising $6.4 million to fund a new building, which is named for local philanthropist Cleve J. Fredricksen.
Today, the library circulates 850,000 items yearly, and its service area consists of 82,000 people. It’s the busiest library in Cumberland County.
“We are not your grandma’s library,” said library Director Bonnie Goble. “We strive to be the community center. We want to be the destination of choice for educational, technological and recreational needs.”
To that end, Fredricksen hosts a bounty of events each month, including children’s story time, programs for new parents, “Fredricksen Writes,” book and cooking clubs, movie and documentary showings, educational seminars and outdoor concerts, to name a few.
“We offer activities that are free to the public,” said Goble. “We present programs, sometimes more than one, virtually every day that we are open.”
Some patrons visit the library not primarily for books, but to use computers, borrow DVDs and access other resources.
“I don’t come in to get books at all,” said Pam Dunham, who has been a patron since 2014. “I’m hooked on the seasonal (TV) shows. I keep a list in my car of what season I need next. This library has so much material, I haven’t bought a show in a year and a half. I don’t know what I’d do without it.”
Julie Barr, a public service specialist at Fredricksen, said that the best part about the library is that it is still free.
“We offer books and technology that others may not be able to afford,” she said. “We provide concerts and events that draw the community in. We try to be diverse in what we offer.”
Books, though, will never lose their status as the heart of Fredricksen. Thelma joined the library three years ago to quench her love of mystery and crime novels. She comes in once a week and checks out eight to 10 books at a time.
“I like to read (about) murder,” she said. “The bloodier, the better. Romances are all the same—they get sappy. But Fredricksen has a mystery collection that keeps me interested.”
The library also depends upon a small army of volunteers to keep it functioning and appealing, inside and out.
“The objective of the landscape care was to make it simply beautiful and beautifully simple,” said volunteer Calvin. “We continue to tweak it, but we try to make it relatively easy to maintain.”
Roberta, a volunteer since 2004, said that the library is her second home.
“It keeps me young,” she said. “I’m on my feet, I’m learning, and I’m part of the community.”
Looking ahead, Goble has high hopes for the next 60 years, including a possible building expansion, continuing a story that began with one man’s love for his wife.
The Cleve J. Fredricksen Library is located at 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill. For more information, call 717-761-3900 or visit www.cumberlandcountylibraries.org/FRE or the Facebook page.
Author:Rachael Dymski
