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About Us
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| The Library is certainly one of our area's
assets and it is definitely one of the most beautiful
buildings in our city. Each corner of the building has
a lion's head which symbolizes that knowledge is power. |
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Oil City has a long history of library support. The
concept of a library in our community began in 1864
when a group of citizens formed an organization called
the Petroleum Institute. Aside from buying books for
the public's use, the group met weekly to listen to
essays, music, readings and to debate.
The Institute reorganized in 1871 to form the Oil City
Library Association. Many of the ideas were not widely
supported by the general public and library service
suffered due to serious economic problems.
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The picture brightened however in 1890 when the Belles
Lettres Club was formed for the purpose of studying
literature and maintaining a library. An active member
of Belles Lettres, Cora Hull Ramage, began corresponding
with Andrew Carnegie of Pittsburgh. She requested that
Mr. Carnegie donate money for a library. He did agree
to donate $44,000 to build the library provided that
the citizens provide a site and guarantee $3,000 annually
to maintain it.
Andrew Carnegie once said, "A library outranks
any other thing a community can do to benefit its people.
It is a never sailing spring in the desert." Mr.
Carnegie contributed an estimated 150 million dollars
to about 2,800 libraries in the United States and Great
Britain. Oil City was fortunate to be one of the recipients
but the library has never received any other Carnegie
monies.
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Picture from the post card collection
of Lydia Johnson.
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| The women of Belles Lettres went to work
and raised over $11,000 to purchase the present site at
the corner of Central Avenue and West Front Street. |
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| On July 6, 1904, the Carnegie Library of
Oil City opened its doors with 5,000 books that were donated
by the Belles Lettres Club. |
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| For over 50 years, the original building
served the community well without capital improvements.
However, the building was upgraded and modernized in 1959
with funds from the Smedley and Justus estates. |
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| An expanding book collection and increase
in public use made the need for more space obvious by
the early 1970's. The 1959 renovation had provided no
extra space and the collection had grown to over 54,000
volumes. |
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| Again, the Oil City Library Commission
went to the people of Oil City with a building fund drive.
With a matching grant from the Justus trusts, over $800,000
was raised to finance the new wing and the major renovation
of the existing building. |
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| Since 1990, the Library's service area
has expanded beyond the city limits to include some of
the surrounding municipalities. |
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| On July 1, 1995, the Library was designated
by Commonwealth Libraries to be one of 29 district library
centers in the state of PA. The Library is also known
as the Oil Creek District Library Center and is the district
center for the 14 public libraries in the counties of
Venango, Clarion and Jefferson. |
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| The present facility currently provides
space for over 94,000 items and serves over 15,000 individuals
in the library's service area. |
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| Oil City Library's mission is to fulfill
informational and recreational needs, assist in personal
growth and development, and promote the area's heritage.
Top-notch programs and services are offered daily at the
Library. |
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| In 2004, the Library celebrated 100 years
of quality service to the community with a memorable year
in the Library's history. |
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| The celebration of a century of existence
sets in motion for the next one hundred years a continuation
and enhancement of the quality library service that our
patrons expect and depend on. |
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| Oil City Library is truly a fine library
and an extremely valuable resource for our region. |
