History & Mission
History
The first library in Penn Hills was a Carnegie Facility, located in the North Bessemer neighborhood and demolished in the late 1950s to make room for housing railroad employees. Sparked by a campaign by local clubs, the Penn Hills Municipality adopted a Library Ordinance in 1963 that established a Library Board and gave it the power to raise funds for a library. In 1966, a temporary site was rented in the basement level of Chestnut Plaza Shopping Center. Five years later, ground was broken in September 1971, for the construction of a new library facility funded by the Municipality of Penn Hills ($100,000), the Authority for Improvement of Municipalities (AIM)($100,000) through the Allegheny County Commissioners and a fund-raising campaign ($65,000). In 1972, this library building was completed, dedicated and opened to the public. This library began to run out of space in the nineties and various fund raising campaigns were explored. William E. Anderson of Penn Hills donated the land and a substantial monetary gift. Other fundraising brought in the money to build the new library. This library has been named the William E. Anderson Library of Penn Hills and is located at 1037 Stotler Road (corner of Stotler and Saltsburg Roads). The library held its grand opening on October 1, 2007.
Mission
The Mission of the William E. Anderson Library of Penn Hills is that of community information/communication center.