Founded in 1900, Alexandria Memorial Public Library was the first community library established in the county and remains a wonderful local establishment.
On October 11, 1900, the philanthropist William Woolverton and William Thompson, great-grandsons of Elizabeth Gemmill, founder of Alexandria, opened this beautiful library. The yellow brick edifice was designed in a neo-renaissance style by architect Frederick Sholler of Tyrone.
The total cost of the building, the furniture, and the books for the opening of the Library was approximately $20,000. Additional funds were then put into a trust for operational costs and new books to assure the town that the library would be fully endowed into perpetuity. The Alexandria Memorial Library was the first community library building established in the counties of Blair, Bedford & Huntingdon. It was opened with 2,000 volumes and now contains much more!
