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Oxford Area Historical Association
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Oxford Public Library History Overview | |||||||
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The Oxford Library is the third
oldest in Pennsylvania. Established in 1784 by 28 members and 25 books,"to
promise knowlege and literature in the Township of Oxford", it was a
subscription library. Shares cost 1 pound each with an annual fee of and 7
shillings 6d, the books were kept at first in private homes. It opened to the
public in 1868 requiring the purchase of a share of stock for $5, and an annual
fee of $1. It was made a free public library in 1939, when it became a
beneficiary of the community chest. The library has occupied rented space in a
number of local buildings, the second floors of the McCullough's Pharmacy (see
below), the Dickey Building [Peoples Bank], The J D Burns building, and the
first floor of the Old Masonic Lodge building (see below). In 1947 a bequest
from the estate of Edith Rollins allowed the purchase of the stone house near
the Fire company. The Library Co. moved there in1955. In 1970 the current
building, The Katherine B. Alexander Memorial Library was completed on Second
Street from a bequest from Clyde Alexander in 1966. Further improvement
and maintenance
have resulted from $165,000 in trust from the estate of George W.
Brown in 1979.
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