Kelli Knapp has been the Director and District Administrator of the Warren Library Association since January. The Warren Library Association was established by Thomas Struthers in 1873. He built the theater to house the library and provide financial support for the library. The current library building was initially constructed in 1916. The library currently has 28 full and part time employees and about 70 volunteers. That is down from more than 65 employees in the 60’s.
There are 29 library districts in Pennsylvania. Warren is the District Library for the 17 libraries in the district. It is also designated as the County Library and library cards issued at any of the Warren County libraries are good in any of the other libraries in Warren County.
They have many programs throughout the year including their very popular children’s programs as well as Monday Night Movies, Trivia Competition, Book Discussion Group, Warren Writers Group, Adult Coloring Group, Adult Teen Make-It-Take-It Craft Activity, Teen Movie and Summer Reading Activities for Children, Tweens and Teens. They also run a Children’s Summer Reading Program.
The Warren Library is a Federal Depository Library, as well as having extensive genealogy resources and databases.
Funding, about $1.1million comes from 52% State & County, 32% Trusts and Endowments, 14% Donations and Grants and 2% fines and rentals.
They also have over 6,000 Audio and Ebooks available on line.