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About Us

The Kutztown Community Library informs, enriches, and empowers our community by providing access to information, technology, services, and programming.

 

Library History

The Kutztown Community Library traces its beginning to a bequest in 1941 from Louisa M. Gonser, who donated her home on West Main Street to be used as a public library and a YMCA. The library became a reality in 1949, when the Business & Professional Women's Club established a children’s reading library.

By 1958 the library had outgrown its quarters and was moved to the old town hall on Whiteoak Street. In 1989 the library was moved to the lower level of the newly completed Borough Hall.

The current building was purchased in 1997 from plumber John Printz and has a varied history. The central structure was an 18th-century barn. A back portion was used as a slaughterhouse in the early part of the century. The library opened as the Louisa Gonser Community Library in 1998. In 2011 it was renamed the Kutztown Community Library, and the building was named in honor of Louisa Gonser.

Policies & Reports

Staff & Trustees

A list of staff members and members of the Board of Trustees. The Kutztown Community Library Board of Trustees meets at the library on the second Thursday of the month at 7 pm. No meeting in July. Meetings are open to the public. Board minutes are available online or at the circulation desk.

 

LIBRARY STAFF

  • Director: Janet Yost

  • Youth Librarian: Taylor Kutz

  • Assistant Librarian: Joanne Englehart

  • Assistant Librarian: Charlotte Hoare

  • Assistant Librarian: Jackee Sharayko

  • Clerk: Mary Beth Friedle

  • Clerk: Lacie Henninger

  • Clerk: Mackenzie Keller

  • Clerk: Megan Waidelich

 

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

  • President: Cathy Ruhf

  • Vice-President: Barb Coffin

  • Secretary: Rebeka Birch

  • Treasurer: Martin Smith

  • Corresponding Secretary: Rebekah Birch

  • Members: Ernest Angstadt, Harry Heffelfinger Jr, Lucy Muth, Robert Shade

 

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