Volunteers pull book-laden wagons in a caravan to move the Downingtown Library
Bang! The kick-off cannon boomed at 8 a.m. on the dot, and the pullers of the red wagons were off. Cheerful despite the early January cold, Downingtown residents streamed onto Wallace Avenue Saturday morning in a train of brightly decorated wagons, ready to finish moving the Downingtown Library to its new home.
Bang!
The kick-off cannon boomed at 8 a.m. on the dot, and the pullers of the red wagons were off. Cheerful despite the early January cold, Downingtown residents streamed onto Wallace Avenue Saturday morning in a train of brightly decorated wagons, ready to finish moving the Downingtown Library to its new home.
Wagonload by load, the volunteers formed a brigade to move 1,200 boxes of books from the building that housed them for 100 years to a new spot six blocks away.
The wagon train, organized by local Rotarians, was a community spectacle - and one of the final steps in a historic event 20 years in the making.
"It's just a beautiful thing," said Mary Holleran, a member of the library's board.
The move was long overdue, and it brought out the Downingtown community spirit, said board president Deborah Miles. From decades-long residents to a nine-month-old baby, dozens turned out, bringing almost 40 wagons.
It was enough to make Holleran cry as she walked back to the new library with the first load of books.
"We've been working so hard," she said. "The enthusiasm is wonderful."
Since 1914, the library has lived in a Colonial-era house on East Lancaster Avenue. Beloved but cramped, the building lacked adequate workspace and did not meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, said Karen Miller, director of the library.
Now, Downingtown Library sits on 7,000 square feet next to Kerr Park in the center of town. The handicapped-accessible building boasts ample reading space, a tutoring room and a drive-up book drop. Instead of four computers, the new library will have eight, plus eight laptops.
The Thorndale-Downingtown Rotary Club dreamed up Saturday's wagon train and organized the project. It took on a life of its own as people began to sign up and offer other support.
"It's something that's not going to happen very often, and we think having everybody in the community participate is a really fun thing," said Rotarian Jack Hines, who coordinated the event.On Saturday, everyone pitched in. Downingtown fire and police helped wagon-pullers cross the street. The Coatesville Rotary Club brought refreshments.
Curious George, Reading Rainbow and Snoopy all made appearances on the themed wagons. Adorned with twisting pipe cleaners, polka-dot balloons and a sparkly pinwheel,the Vogt family's "Seuss Caboose" featured pictures and quotes from favorites like Green Eggs and Ham and Hop on Pop.
Bella, 8, and Aislin, 6, participate in the library's reading program every summer, said their mother, Jamie Vogt.
Saturday's project allowed them to give back.
"It's something the kids can really get involved with and help with," Vogt said.
The library serves more than 40,000 in Downingtown and five other townships, which contributed money for the move. Retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach and state Sen. Andy Dinniman helped the library get a federal and a state grant, respectively, that together paid for the building renovation and technology, Miller said.
Saturday's wagon-pullers asked sponsors to pledge money for every box moved, so the project raised funds for the library, as well.
The library has about $750,000 more to raise toward the $2.2 million project, Miller said before the move.
Some of the money will pay Downingtown borough back for the new property, which it purchased in 2010. The rest is for the new facility, which is still without some things they had hoped for, like armchairs and tables.
Still, the library will open for business by Wednesday, Miller said.
Many are nostalgic about the old site, but the new one will be more user-friendly and will better serve patrons, said Miles.
The former library was bought by a family that plans to move in soon.
Library officials encountered a number of roadblocks during the long search for a new home, Miles said. They coveted the Wallace Avenue site, then owned by the Downingtown Area School District, for a number of years before the borough was able to buy it.
"It's been a dream come true. It's the building that, if we could've chosen any building in all of the Downingtown area to move into, this would've been it," Miles said.
Jane Butler and her 17-year-old daughter Nellie dug a childhood wagon out of the attic in order to participate on Saturday.
"I just feel like I'm contributing to my community that's contributed to me a lot," Jane Butler said.
"It feels nice," Nellie added.
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