Sewickley library adapts to building closure as preparations made for move across town

Mar. 11—Even a building closure can't keep the Sewickley Township Public Library from its role as a community gathering place.

Structural concerns last month shuttered the library and the township's recreation center, which for decades, operated out of the former Sewickley Township High School building on Highland Avenue in Herminie.

But it was (almost) business as usual Saturday when nearly two dozen students convened for the organization's annual chess tournament.

Instead of the library's community room, the event was conducted less than a mile away at St. Edward's Church.

"It's been a challenge," said Jennifer Worley, children's librarian, who coordinated the tournament. "We've had issues in the past and we've been able to offer programs, so we're pretty adaptable at this point."

Township supervisors announced last month that the municipality's engineer, Gibson-Thomas Engineering of Latrobe, determined the century-old building was no longer safe.

During a chimney inspection, Sewickley's public works crew spotted a gap in the building's masonry in an upper section of an interior wall, as well as another crack in an exterior brick wall above a window.

The structure was built in 1918 to serve as the town's high school. According to the Westmoreland County Genealogy Project website, the school closed in 1964.

Worley said library officials had long feared structural concerns would ultimately require a permanent relocation. So when the township determined the former school building was unsafe, plans were already in the works to find a new library home.

And coupled with the experience learned during the coronavirus pandemic that required library services to be scaled back or cut, local organizers were ready to deal with the latest challenge caused by building closure, Worley said.

A move in the works

A move is coming soon.

Officials said the former headquarters of the township's tax collector, at 612 Sewickley Ave., will be the new temporary home of the library. It's expected to open in within the next several months.

The new library digs will be smaller, but safe, and allow a resumption of events under one roof.

"We're not going to go back to the other building, and we knew we wouldn't forever be in that building," Worley said. "Our main concern is to be of service to the community."

Plans are being made to relocate the library's books, furniture and other supplies.

Meanwhile, during the last month the library continued its activities amid its building's closure. In addition to relocating the chess tournament, other events have been conducted at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars building and at facilities such as the United Methodist Church in Herminie.

For families, the library building's closing was unwelcome.

"It's a bummer," said Jeff Baluch, whose three children ages 10, 7 and 5, visit the Sewickley library about once a week. "I know we have a lot of library books around the house and we try to go to other libraries now."

Baluch's 7-year-old son, William, was among the 19 students who participated in Saturday's chess tournament. Students played five timed games to determine the top two finishers in two age groups.

Winners will be eligible to participate in a countywide tournament at the Greensburg-Hempfield Area Library on April 22.

They will qualify for the Westmoreland County chess tournament that will be held April 22 at the Greensburg-Hempfield Area Public Library.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .