In 1976 the Lancaster Public Library moved into its current building on Broadway in the village of Lancaster. Although the library dates back to 1821, making it one of the oldest libraries in Western New York, this was the first building built specifically to house the library. Previous library locations included its nineteenth century homes in the Johnson School House and the Lancaster Presbyterian Church as well as twentieth century locations in the Lancaster Town Hall and in a former house on Clark Street. The current building was designed by the architecture firm Kideney, Smith, Fitzgerald & Partners, which also designed Buffalo's Central Library. The neighboring village of Depew had its own branch library from 1947 until the branch's closure in 2005 during the consolidation of Erie County's public libraries. Originally housed in the Depew Village Hall, the Depew Branch moved to its own purpose-built building on Columbia Avenue in 1964. Both the Lancaster Public Library and its Depew Branch joined the Erie County Public Library (today the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library System) in 1947.
Scope of Collection
Photographs and other items from Lancaster and Depew's libraries during the 20th century.
