The Kingsessing Library has served the Southwest Philadelphia community now for a full century! All are invited to our Centennial Celebration today, Thursday, December 5, from 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.,1201 S. 51st Street, between Chester and Kingsessing Avenues.

Funded as part of Andrew Carnegie’s endowment to build public libraries nationwide, Kingsessing Library has seen the neighborhood go through many changes. The Centennial Celebration will commemorate this history with a display of pictures, articles, and artifacts from old maps showing when the library was about to be built, to pictures of the community using, supporting, and enjoying the library over the course of its history, to artwork made by neighborhood kids this year. Everyone who comes will be invited to share their stories of the Kingsessing Library and the neighborhood in a Story Share, which will be recorded for posterity.

The Centennial Celebration will also feature live entertainment, including an African dance lesson from AFRICOM: The Coalition of African and Caribbean Communities, and a soul band made up of 8-14 year-olds from the Kingsessing Recreation Center. Free Library Director Siobhan A. Reardon and several local elected leaders have also been invited to say a few words about the momentous occasion.

Children are always central to the Free Library’s mission, of course, and this celebration will include fun kids’ activities from local community partners Bartram’s Gardens, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, and Studio Ludo. The Philadelphia Fire Department has even promised to send a fire truck for kids of all ages to enjoy!

There are also a couple more days to take advantage of our Fines Forgiveness Week, so bring back those overdue books and we'll wipe the slate clean! : )

Lastly, what’s a party without food? There will be trays of goodies to munch on, as well as carrot cake from Philly dessert legend—Carrot Cake Man.

Come help us celebrate one hundred years of the Kingsessing Library!