Bradford Area Public Library
The Bradford Area Public Library's service area includes the City of Bradford, Bradford, Corydon, Foster, and Lafayette Townships, and the Borough of Lewis Run. Our fully accessible facility, located on state route 346, was built in 1991. Our services, programs, and dedicated staff continue to honor the promise engraved over the entrance to Bradford's original 1901 Carnegie Library: we remain "Free to the People".
Mission: To provide the resources to inform, educate and enrich our community in a way that demonstrates:
- Literacy
- Equal access and diversity
- Life-long learning
- Fiscal responsibility and integrity
- BAPL's rich heritage
Vision: To be a recognized premier library in service to our community.
HISTORY
Like many Pennsylvania and New York libraries founded in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Bradford Area Public Library (BAPL) was started with a $25,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. A stipulation of the grant was that the building be on a site with good light and that the city guarantees its upkeep at a cost of $3,000 per year. Two small feeder libraries were combined at the newly constructed site to form Bradford's Carnegie Library. A new librarian (Mr. Fletcher from Buffalo) was retained to combine the two smaller collections in the newest library techniques (Melvil Dewey).
Explore Related Categories