Vision, Mission, Core Values and History
Customer Focus - The primary goal is to serve every Patron with prompt, friendly, quality service.
Excellence - Strive for excellence through expertise and creativity.
Teamwork - Foster a team environment for the contributions of the Board, Director, Staff, Volunteers and Friends.
Respect - Treat everyone with mutual respect and dignity.
Information - Provide equitable community access to information through technology.
Literacy - Acknowledge the importance and foster an informed and literate community.
Lifelong Learning - Provide resources and services that contribute to lifelong learning.
Diversity - Embrace the diversity of the community through materials selection, programs, services and a handicap
accessible facility.
Community - Provide a community center for cultural programs, leisure activities and exhibitions.
Collaboration - Foster partnerships and expand opportunities to provide more effective and efficient delivery of
materials, services and programs.
History
The first library in Penn Hills was a Carnegie Facility, located in the North Bessemer neighborhood and demolished in the late 1950s to make room for housing railroad employees. Sparked by a campaign by local clubs, the Penn Hills Municipality adopted a Library Ordinance in 1963 that established a Library Board and gave it the power to raise funds for a library. In 1966, a temporary site was rented in the basement level of Chestnut Plaza Shopping Center. Five years later, ground was broken in September 1971, for the construction of a new library facility funded by the Municipality of Penn Hills ($100,000), the Authority for Improvement of Municipalities (AIM)($100,000) through the Allegheny County Commissioners and a fund-raising campaign ($65,000). In 1972, this library building was completed, dedicated and opened to the public. This library began to run out of space in the nineties and various fund raising campaigns were explored. William E. Anderson of Penn Hills donated the land and a substantial monetary gift. Other fundraising brought in the money to build the new library. This library has been named the William E. Anderson Library of Penn Hills and is located at 1037 Stotler Road (corner of Stotler and Saltsburg Roads). The library held its grand opening on October 1, 2007.
William E. Anderson - William Anderson was one of eight children born to Frank and Anna Barnett Anderson making his the third generation for his family in Penn Hills. His grandfather worked in the mines of Coal Hollow before 1900, and his father owned a grocery store in Unity. Frank Anderson also served on the board of directors for the Penn township schools.
Bill Anderson attended grade school at Davidson School in North Bessemer. He graduated from Schenley High School in Pittsburgh. Upon graduating from high school, Bill signed up with the United States Navy when the Second World War started. He served on the destroyer, USS Hobby.
After the war, Bill returned to work in his father's store in Unity. One day a customer came into the store and offered to sell young Anderson a tract of thirty-nine acres along Hamil Road for $2,000. Thinking the price was fair, Bill bought the property. Although he did not immediately develop the land, Fred Caldarelli, a long time friend of the family, encouraged Bill Anderson to go into the business of developing real estate into home sites. Taking Caldarelli's advice, Anderson's first venture was to build forty homes on Meadow Avenue in Unity. Over the next thirty years, Anderson built over 2,000 homes in Penn Hills. His projects included Pheasant Drive near Duff Road, Crescent Gardens off Stotler Road, Anderson Park, Regency Park, an apartment complex at Universal and Frey Roads, and five hundred homes in the vicinity of the Alcoma Golf Course. In addition to real estate, Bill Anderson partnered with the O'Block family of Plum to form the People's Bank of Unity (now a part of S&T Bank).
Mr. Anderson donated the land for the new library in Penn Hills. The new facility has been named in his honor for his generosity to the community.