Brief History by Ruth Ann Miller
The library was founded in 1921 by the Women's Club of Southampton. In the early years, it was housed in a small building on Second Street Pike and maintained entirely by a volunteer staff. In the late 1960's, it became apparent to the twenty-three member governing board that the small volunteer operation could no longer meet the needs of the expanding population of Southampton. In 1970, arrangements were made for the library to join the township and a new and much larger building was constructed on the Street Road site. The current new building was dedicated in 1971.
A full time professional librarian was engaged by the new seven person Library Board to lead the Southampton Free Library into a new era. Over the next few years as circulation increased dramatically, more staff and volunteers were engaged. In 1989, 30 percent more space was added and the older section was refurbished.
In 1921, the library began with a collection of about forty books. Today, there are over 80,000 cataloged items in the collection including more than 20,000 in the juvenile collection. There is also a significant selection of audio materials and video cassettes covering a wide range of subjects. In addition, the library has about 131 magazines and newspaper subscriptions.
The Southampton Free Library is now a partner in an electronic library network with the Bucks County Community College, the seven branches of the Bucks County Library System, the County Law Library, nine other community libraries and one private library. This network system allows patrons to check-out a book in any member library and return the book again to any member library. However, the computer tracks the books and any other item the patron has on loan. After the book is returned, the computer "forgets" what item a patron borrowed in order to protect a patron's right to privacy.