Scranton Public Library Periodicals Room

As we are finishing up with our final changes to the Centennial Book Collection that we will be launching soon, I wanted to point out one of my favorite pictures of the Reference Room at the library. The formal name of the room above is the Barrel Vault Room because of its wonderful concave ceiling. When the library was built the floor was open to the downstairs. In this picture you can view the beautiful railings and lighting that was in the room. As the library needs changed the floor was closed and its now the Periodicals Room.

Photo of the Silkman House

This is from the History of the Scranton Public Library Collection. The photo is undated, but the presence of street car tracks would place it in the first half of the 20th Century. Built by Aaron Burr Silkman in 1840, the Silkman House served as the residence of various Silkman family members until 1938 when the property and building were given to the Scranton Public Library. It served as the Providence Branch of the library until 2006. It currently houses the library's Technical Services Unit and the Lackawanna River Corridor Association.

More from the Centennial Collection

Here is another title that will appear in "Celebrating Our Towns: Lackawanna County Centennial Books and Community Histories" which will go live in February. Over 30 items will be included representing towns from all over Lackawanna County. This book celebrates the sesquicentennial of Scott Township. You will be able to view it cover-to-cover in the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives.

Centennial Book Collection

At the beginning of February we will be launching this new collection.  It's an exciting time because we also have other collections that we would like to launch this coming year. First and foremost we will launch this book collection.  The books were professionally digitized and contain wonderful photos of the centennials of boroughs, townships and cities in Lackawanna County.

Scranton Christmas Windows

One of our most popular collections at this time of year is Scranton Christmas Windows. Enjoy!

The upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday

This is the first page of a letter from David Davis to his brother-in-law Joseph H. Scranton.  I chose this letter as it discusses the families upcoming Thanksgiving plans.  As you can see, the Scranton's were going to go to Lenox Pennsylvania for the holiday and David Davis and his family were going to Massachusetts.  It's interesting to see that while we live 150 years later that families are still the same and discuss family plans, except that now it's by text, email or the phone.

The interesting part of this letter is the request by David Davis for Joseph H. Scranton to buy him a trunk.  Here is the link to the rest of the letter. http://content.lackawannadigitalarchives.org/cdm/ref/collection/outwild/id/1657

Nay Aug Boat Ride

Generations of children who grew up in Scranton remember the Boat Ride at Nay Aug Park. This is one 29 historic photos in The Nay Aug Amusement Park collection in the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives.