1968-2008: 40 Years of Learning and Discovery

2008 marks the 40th year of service for Northland Public Library.

When we first opened in October 1968 on Three Degree Road in Ross Township, there were 16,000 items in our collection, and a lot of doubts on how many people would even come to the library. Today, there are nearly 200,000 items in our collection, including books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and other items--plus we have access to more than 40 online databases and more than three dozen computers available for public use with high-speed Internet access.

Throughout the year we will be celebrating our Anniversary with profiles of important library events and people, plus special displays and programs highlighting the development of Northland. We hope you enjoy this look at our past as we prepare to serve the region for the next 40 years and beyond.

Choose a decade on our timeline below to see what happened in the library's history!


1968-1977   1988-1997  
       
       
  1978-1987   1998-2007


40th Anniversary Celebration

After great anticipation, on October 6, 1968 Northland Public Library opened its doors to the public for the first time on Three Degree Road. Join us for a week of celebration for our 40th Anniversary of library service in the North Hills.

On Monday evening October 6, 2008 at 7:00p.m., Rick Sebak from WQED will be here to tell us "How I do what I do." Mr. Sebak is known for his Pittsburgh History Series of documentaries including "Something About Oakland," "Stuff That's Gone," and "Kennywood Memories." He produces, writes and narrates these and other documentaries.

On Tuesday evening October 7, 2008 at 7:00p.m., The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh presents "Katherine Ayres: Books and More!" for school age children and their families. Katherine Ayres , a local children's author , also teaches writing at Chatam University. Some of Ms. Ayres books include "Up, Down, and Around," "Family Tree," and some of the "History Mysteries" for American Girl.

Monday and Tuesday evenings October 6 & 7 from 6:30-9:00, Joe Bullick, Historian for North Allegheny School District will be here with many local history items including old school yearbooks, historic photos from the North Hills and other historic artifacts from the North Hills area.

On Wednesday afternoon, October 8, 2008 our Foreign Film will be "The Bride Wore Black" from France which was released in 1968.

When our Second Friday book discussion group meets on October 10, we will be discussing "Snow Country" by Yatsunari Kawabata which won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968.

On Friday evening, October 10 at 7:00p.m. join us for 1968 at the movies! We will be watching the original "Planet of the Apes" which was released in 1968. Fortieth Anniversary tote bags and coffee mugs will continue to be available for purchase in the Book Nook.
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Northland Memories

Celebrating Northland Staff

40 years of staff have come and gone and stayed. 30 staff members have been at Northland 5-9 years, 14 have been here 11-20 years, and 7 for 21-30 years! Page Ritchey, Joan Fancher, Jane Jubb, Lois Krebs and Eleanor Niehaus have worked at Northland for more than 30 years.

Willa Gibson was hired in January 1968 to begin the creation of the children's collection of books. Willa continues to be instrumental in the development of our children's collection. The photo at left is from the North Hills News Record, Jan. 3, 1968 -- Willa Neil has been at Northland for all 40 years!

Current staff hold at least 18 Master's Degrees, in many subjects including Library Science, Mathematics, Art History, Speech Pathology and Audiology. We also have over 34 Bachelor Degrees and 5 Associate degrees in the following fields: Engineering, Psychology, French Language, Geology, Broadcast Journalism, English/Writing, Business Management, Graphic Design and many others. We also hold certificates for A+, Pharmacy Technician, Basic lithographer, Library para-professional and Volunteer Administration.

Our music talents include voice, piano, organ, flute, violin, trombone, saxophone and clarinet. Reading, travel and cooking are common hobbies among staff. Many also enjoy gardening, crafts, knitting and volunteering at church. Others attend car cruises, go antiquing, make designer cookies, rescue greyhound dogs, make jewelry, and make pierogies. Many of us are huge Pittsburgh sports fans. We are active bicyclers, marathon runners, horseback riders, baseball coaches and golfers and we do tai chi chih and water aerobics.

We are delighted to celebrate 40 years of wildly different talents and personalities with a single mission - to make Northland Public Library the best library it can possibly be.

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