Wyalusing Public Library

The Wyalusing Public Library is located at 115 Church St. in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. For nearly 125 years, we have served as an information and education hub for our community. We are immensely proud of this continuing legacy.

Our building was offered as a gift to the community in 1902 through the generosity of Francis R. Welles. Welles fervently believed in the value of education in improving the world. He felt that by making information accessible to communities, the quality of their educational would enliven and improve the culture. To this end, Welles stocked the Wyalusing Public Library with materials from his own personal collection.

Albert Tipp, a Wilkes-Barre architect, designed the library building. Tipp constructed the building to be as fireproof as current day techniques would allow. The facade is brick, and a cement liner sits between the roof and interior rooms. When an addition was built in 1991 through the Generosity of the Taylor Family of Wyalusing, the building’s original tiled fireplaces and oak woodwork was kept intact.

The building contains many unique details from the turn-of-the-century period in which it was built. You will spot many of them upon arriving in our lobby. We believe that these historical qualities mesh with the features of the modern library to create a unique and special atmosphere. Further, the library is the only historic building in Wyalusing to remain used for its original intent and purpose.

As a library, our mission is to foster an environment of lifelong learning, education, social uplift, and cultural strength throughout the Wyalusing community and greater Bradford County service areas. The library supports this mission by providing the latest tools, resources, spaces, and offerings for the public for free or minimal cost. 

We currently have a very active Preschool Story Time class that meets every Friday morning. The immersive play area and sensory table are a big hit with our little visitors! Our Children’s Librarian Miss Laura does an amazing job at bringing together learning and imaginative play. She also runs our Family Story Time and our STEM Book Club. Throughout the summer, we are very busy with themed events and programs, reading challenges for children up through adults, and a summer play. Miss Christi has led our summer play for going on four years now, giving the children in our community opportunities to grow and learn through hands-on experience leading different parts of a play. This year we have started a Book and Craft Book Club for adults, building a small community of readers and crafters. We are working on connecting more with our community and local business owners, and look forward to continued growth! 

Through our fundraising efforts, we’d like to be able to improve on the front steps and outward appearance of our old building. These stone stairs have led to unfortunately, a handful of falls and scrapped knees. We’d like to improve the front space so that we could have an area that patrons could sit and enjoy a good book on a sunny day. Your donation can help us with this huge endeavor that we have been putting off due to its expense. Next year is our 125th year and we hope to make these improvements to keep it going for another 125!