Chestnut Hill Library Friends
Chestnut Hill Library Friends
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About the Chestnut Hill Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia

Our Library is a Carnegie Library

Today, the Chestnut Hill Library, a branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, is housed in a “Carnegie Library” designed by Cope and Stewardson in a Georgian Revival style.  The Carnegie building features a vestibule with a stone portico, Doric columns, and large arched windows flanking the entrance.    


Christian Hall Library (The beginning)

   

Chestnut Hill has maintained a library since 1870 when philanthropist Henry Williams retired here from Boston. To serve the schools and the community, Williams built the Christian Hall Library in 1872 at 8711 Germantown Avenue. Williams named the library Christian Hall because he did not wish anything to go on in the two-story building and subsequent annex that would be inconsistent with the word "Christian." Singing, elocution classes, magic lantern shows, art lectures, church fairs and temperance meetings were permitted.


At first the library was only a reading room, and books were issued only to subscribers. The upstairs was used by the YMCA and area churches for fairs and lectures. A frame building behind the library was the headquarters of the Workingman’s Club. It was equipped as a reading room and billiard hall.


After 1876, Mr. Williams was persuaded to allow anyone to take books without charge. In 1897, the trustees of the Christian Hall Library decided that the library would be of greater benefit to the community as a branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and so they granted the grounds to the city.

VISIT THE CHESTNUT HILL LIBRARY

8711 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118, United States

(215) 685-9290

Library Hours

Open today

02:00 pm – 06:00 pm

Visit the Friends Secret Garden

  

The Garden at the Chestnut Hill Free Library is supported and maintained by the Chestnut Hill Library Friends. To learn more about the Friends organization and the work they do – ask a librarian or click on the link below.

Visit the Friends Secret Garden Page

Events at the Library

There's much to see and do at the Chestnut Hill Library - Programs for Adults and Children, Book Clubs, or a stroll around our Garden.

Learn About Events & Programs

Contact the Friends of Chestnut Hill Library

Email your questions and comments to

info@chestnuthilllibraryfriends.org

 

Your support and contributions will enable the Chestnut Hill Library Friends make our library, one of the best community libraries, even better.

Pay with PayPal or a debit/credit card

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84 Bethlehem Pike, Philadelphia PA 19118

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