Morrisville Free Library continues to serve, inspire, and seek new support

For more than 120 years, the Morrisville Free Library has been a source of stability in the heart of the borough, a place where generations have found knowledge, connection, comfort, and community. Founded in 1904 in the front parlor of Mrs. Bertha Peasey’s home with a modest collection of religious texts, the library has survived relocations, closures, financial challenges, and periods of uncertainty. It has weathered all of it the same way it started, through the determination of local residents who believed that Morrisville deserved a library of its own.

Today, that grassroots spirit continues. The library remains a valued community hub, but like many small libraries, it finds itself doing more with less. With only eight part-time staff members and no head librarian or children’s librarian currently on staff, the library is relying on teamwork, creativity, and community backing to keep its programs alive. And with interest growing in establishing a new Friends of the Library group, Morrisville stands once again at a moment when residents can help secure the library’s future.

Since its earliest days, the library’s story has been intertwined with the people of Morrisville. After its 1904 start on Bank Street, the library moved to the Borough Council Building in 1906. Volunteers promoted the library door-to-door, and by 1907, 167 people paid the $1.50 membership fee to help keep it running. Fundraising dances were organized at the William E. Case School, and in 1923, community leaders helped move the library to the new Morrisville Community House.

The Morrisville Women’s Club later took on leadership, eventually helping secure the library’s most significant relocation, into the beautiful former Church of the Incarnation on Pennsylvania and Palmer Avenues. With stained glass windows, original woodwork, a unique English screen sent after World War I, and the old altar area transformed into the fiction section, the library’s current home is no ordinary building; it is a landmark.

“It’s a beautiful building,” said newly elected Borough Council member Peggy Walsh, who has lived in Morrisville for 43 years. “At night, the light just radiates through the stained glass windows. It’s really something special, and the history behind it is amazing.”

Despite its small size, the library is bustling. In just the first seven months of 2025, more than 10,700 people visited, an average of more than 1,400 visitors per month. On any given day, anywhere from 30 to more than 100 people walk through its doors. Many come for books, but others rely on the computers, printer and fax services, tutoring space, or a quiet place to work or study.

“We really are a community hub,” said Alexandra Napoleon, Library Associate II, who has been with the library for 10 years. “People rely on our computer services, they rely on faxing, they rely on having a place to meet, study, or just connect. We know so many of our patrons by name.”

From January to July alone, patrons logged 1,091 hours of computer use across 1,272 sessions. Morrisville residents are also heavy users of the library’s story times, STEM programs, craft sessions, and animal programs, more than 1,000 adults and children participated in children’s programming from March to July.

And yet, many opportunities remain untapped simply because of staffing gaps.

“We lost our head librarian more than a year ago, and then our children’s librarian this past June, and neither position has been filled,” Walsh explained. “The staff has been doing everything they can to keep things going.”

Napoleon has absorbed responsibilities from both missing positions. She continues to lead weekly story time, coordinates school visits from Holy Trinity School and Pre-K Counts at the YMCA Morrisville Child Care Center. She also organizes special programs like the upcoming Insectopia program taking place January 22 from 6 to 7 pm. But without additional staff, some favorite offerings, like the weekend playtime downstairs, have been reduced or eliminated.

Despite limited staffing, Morrisville Free Library continues to offer an impressive range of services, blending traditional library charm with modern resources.

“We really have the best of both worlds,” said Napoleon “We help you the old-fashioned way, face-to-face, talking with you, checking your books out, but we also have online services, streaming, e-books, and computers for public use. People still enjoy taking out DVDs, too.”

The library also participates in the Bucks County Library System and Access PA, providing access to materials from across the state.

“As a small library, we couldn’t function without being part of the Bucks County system,” Walsh said. “They handle cataloging, which is a huge task. And through the system, our patrons can order books from anywhere in the country.”

One of the most sought after offerings is the museum pass program, where cardholders can borrow free passes to places like Elmwood Park Zoo, the Museum of the American Revolution, or the Penn Museum.

“So many families don’t realize they can save a lot of money through these passes,” Napoleon noted.

Another thriving resource is the Bucks County Seed Share, run entirely by volunteers. Residents can pick up packets of vegetable, herb, fruit, and native plant seeds; no library card required. “We are very fortunate to have them here,” Napoleon said.

With both staffing and funding stretched thin, community members are stepping forward to revive an essential support system: a Friends of the Morrisville Library group.

Library advisory board member Theresa Rissman is helping lead the effort.

“We really want to get this off the ground,” Rissman said. “The Friends group can help fund programs, buy needed items like chairs or a water fountain, support day-to-day operations, and make the staff’s jobs easier. But we need volunteers, preferably people with fundraising, legal, financial, or advertising experience, who can commit the time, as well as someone who can help me lead this organization.”

The goal is to recruit 5 to 10 volunteers willing to meet monthly, form the nonprofit structure, and begin raising funds. Rissman hopes the first meeting can be held in January.

Her passion for the library is personal. When she and her husband moved to Morrisville, their daughter was very young and the pandemic soon followed.

“There was nothing to do, but the library was always open and welcoming,” she recalled. “We homeschool, and it’s been such an important resource for educational materials, socialization, and just building community. We love it there.”

For Walsh, Napoleon, Rissman, and thousands of local families, the Morrisville Free Library is more than a building; it is a trusted friend, a second home, and a vital part of daily life.

“My hope is to make people more aware of the library’s historical significance and its importance today,” Walsh said. “We have so many young families, seniors, gardeners, low-income families; everyone benefits from the services we provide. And we’re doing it all with so few resources.”

The legacy of Morrisville Free Library has always been carried by the community. And now, as the library steps into its next century of service, it once again needs the support of the people who love it.

Residents interested in joining or learning more about the Friends of the Library effort may contact theresa.n.mason@gmail.com.

The Morrisville Free Library remains open Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm.