Chestnut Hill Library
You've waited long enough! Morning hours are back, beginning the week of Monday, April 25th!
Monday & Wednesday: 12 pm - 8 pm
Tuesday & Thursday: 10 am - 6 pm
Friday: 10 am - 5 pm
Please continue to check the branch page for any last minute Closures or schedule changes prior to your visit.
Plant Cuttings Swaps!
Wednesdays, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Stop by the Chestnut Hill Library's atrium to drop off a plant cutting from your collection or from nature, and select a new one to take home! You may also browse our new horticulture collection, unique to Free Library branches and explore the library's garden. While the Plant Swap Station is Open whenever the branch is Open, on Wednesdays from 2-4 there are dedicated volunteers present to help identify cuttings and swap plant care tips!
Chestnut Hill Library’s Classics Book Discussion Group
Winter/Spring 2022: First Thursday of the Month, 11 am.
Book Discussions take place on Zoom, link posted day of discussion. Group Facilitator can be reached at dickjgoldberg@gmail.com. Books are available for Pick-Up at the Chestnut Hill Library Adult Department.
January 6th: Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac
February 3rd: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
March 3rd: Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert
April 7th: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
May 5th: The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Chestnut Hill Library’s GLBTQ Graphic Novel Discussion Club!
Book Discussions are held on Zoom and moderated by the library's UPenn Work Study Student, Gabby Maloy. Link posted here day of program.
Cheer Up!: Love & Pom Poms by Crystal Fraiser
April 22nd, 2022, 10:30-11:30
Place a HOLD for this title here: https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/2579151
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki
May 20th, 2022, 10:30-11:30 AM EST
Place a HOLD for this title here: https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/2449656
Stone Fruit by Lee Lai
June 24th, 2022, 10:30-11:30 AM EST
Place a HOLD for this title here: https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/2578723
Skim by Mariko Tamaki
July 22nd, 2022, 10:30-11:30 AM EST
Place a HOLD for this title here: https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/1639217
Chestnut Hill Library's Contemporary Book Discussion Group
Winter/Spring 2022: Fourth Wednesday of the Month, 10:00 a.m.
Book Discussions take place on Zoom, link posted day of discussion. Group Facilitator can be reached at dickjgoldberg@gmail.com. Books are available for Pick-Up at the Chestnut Hill Library Adult Department.
January 26: I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart
February 23: The Matrix by Lauren Groff
March 23: Shadow of the Empress by Nancy Goldstone
April 27: Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
May 25: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
June 22: The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
Chestnut Hill Contemporary Book Club Discussion of "Empire of Pain" by Patrick Radden Keefe
Time: Apr 27, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89587138721?pwd=bUprdzVZbWNHMDkvbnlYQlhkbWxMdz09
Meeting ID: 895 8713 8721
Passcode: 702098
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday | 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. |
| Thursday | 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. |
| Friday | 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Saturday | Closed |
Upcoming Closures
- Mon., May. 30 : Closed Memorial Day
- Sun., Jun. 19 : Closed Juneteenth
- Mon., Jun. 20 : Closed Juneteenth (Observed)
- Mon., Jul. 4 : Closed Independence Day
Services By Appointment
Services
- Wi-Fi
- Reference Services
- Book Drop
- Browse Shelves
- Computer Use
- Materials / Holds Pick Up
- Printing Services
Facilities
- Baby changing station
- Bicycle rack
- Book drop box
- Computers for public use
- Electrical outlets available
- Photocopier (black/white)
- Printing (black/white)
- Public restrooms
- Street parking (metered)
- Water fountain
- Wireless internet access (wi/fi)
Upcoming Events
Build it Club!
Join us on Thursdays for LEGOs, Magnatiles, K'Nex and other STEM building toys for free play with kids of all ages. We also have pre-Duplo, Duplo and big kid LEGOs, for kids at all…
Garden Storytime
Join us for stories, songs and rhymes celebrating all things summer. We'll be outside, in the garden, weather permitting. For children ages three and up, siblings are…
Our Names and Their Meanings: Collage Workshop
In this workshop for children of all ages and caregivers, we'll read the One Book, One Philadelphia 2022 children's book, Alma and How She Got Her Name, and celebrate the stories and…
Build it Club!
Join us on Thursdays for LEGOs, Magnatiles, K'Nex and other STEM building toys for free play with kids of all ages. We also have pre-Duplo, Duplo and big kid LEGOs, for kids at all…
About
Located a half-block north of Bethlehem Pike in the middle of a lovely garden, the library is just beyond the end of the 23 route. facebook.com/FLPChestnutHill/
History
The first inhabitants of the Chestnut Hill area were the Delaware Indians. One of their leaders, Chief Tedyuscung, is immortalized in a statue in nearby Fairmount Park overlooking Wissahickon Creek. The Indians sold this section of their territory to William Penn on July 14, 1683.
The area's first white settlers were religious dissenters from Holland who were attracted to Penns Woods by the tolerance of its gentle leader. The name Chestnut Hill first appeared in a deed of 1711. Although there were no more Chestnut trees on the hill than anywhere else, the now almost extinct trees gave the town its name.
To serve the schools and the community, philanthropist Henry Williams built the Christian Hall Library in 1872 at 8711 Germantown Avenue. Williams named the library Christian Hall because he did not wish anything to go on in the two-story building and subsequent annex that would be inconsistent with the word "Christian." Singing, elocution classes, magic lantern shows, art lectures, church fairs and temperance meetings were permitted.
At first the library was only a reading room, and books were issued only to subscribers. But after 1876, Mr. Williams was persuaded to allow anyone to take books without charge. In 1897, the trustees of the Christian Hall Library decided that the library would be of greater benefit to the community as a branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and so they granted the grounds to the city.
A new library building was built in 1907, funded by Andrew Carnegie and on the same site as the Christian Hall Library. In 1991, a modern meeting room addition was added. The library was renovated in 1999 as part of the "Changing Lives" campaign, which brought Internet service to every branch. Active support is provided by the Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library, founded in the 1970s.