Camden County Library

Camden County Library is the county library system located in Camden County, New Jersey. It is headquartered in Voorhees, New Jersey.

History

The library system was established in 1921. At the time, Camden County was mostly rural. Service consisted of selecting and delivering small collections of books to schools and other locations used to supply books. The former headquarters library, located at the Camden County Courthouse, served mainly as a storage facility.

The library declined after World War II, but was revived with a new Commission who appointed a professional librarian and plans for relocation were made. In 1969, the headquarters moved to the Echelon Mall (now known as the Voorhees Town Center) in Voorhees. Then in 1977, the library moved across the street from the mall, where the current headquarters is located. In 2004, the branch was named in honor of M. Allan Vogelson, a county freeholder who developed the facility.

Branches

Branch locations are: Headquarters (Voorhees), South County Regional Branch (Atco), Bellmawr, Blackwood, Camden, Merchantville, and Westmont. The city of Camden previously had its own city library system. However, in 2010 Camden came close to being the first city in the United States to close its entire library system because of budget cuts.[1] At the last moment, it was saved by the Camden County Library system, which agreed to take over and rescue the threatened branches.[2]

The Voorhees library conducts a book (and other media) sale each year of 30,000-50,000 items, at prices ranging from 50 cents to 3 dollars per item. It is one of the largest used-book sales in South Jersey.[3][4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Katz, Matt (6 August 2010). "Camden preparing to close its libraries, destroy books". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Picard, Joseph (9 August 2010). "Camden, NJ library rescued". International Business Times. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Adkins, Lynne (2 October 2011). "Camden County Library Branch To Hold Annual Fall Book Sale". CBS Philadelphia. CBS. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  4. ↑ Barna, John (2 October 2011). "Camden County Library branch to offer 50,000 books, CDs and books on tape for sale". Gloucester County Times. NJ.com. Retrieved 30 November 2011.

Coordinates: 39°50′53″N 75°00′04″W / 39.848165°N 75.001249°W / 39.848165; -75.001249

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