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Crozet Library

Crozet LibraryHours:
Monday - Tuesday: 1pm - 9pm
Wednesday - Saturday: 9am - 5pm
Sunday - Closed

Phone: 434. 823.4050
Fax: 434.823.8399
contact Crozet Library

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Crozet Library

Read about the plans for the new Crozet Library

You Can Help Us Make a Difference! Support the Crozet Library Building Fund.

Programs for Adults:

Crozet Soiree

Friendly evenings of informal conversations with guest speakers representing the arts, culture, businesses and interests of our community.

Crozet Soiree

IRENE VOLENICK & HEIDI CROCKETT: Ivy Nursery garden tips

February 24, 2010
7:00 pm

VOLENICK
Get ready for spring with garden tips. Ivy Nursery is a unique garden center located on seven acres, which "strives to appeal not only to the novice, but also the experience gardener." Established in 1975, the nursery is staffed by landscape architects, horticulturists and gardeners.

Crozet Soiree

TIM SANJULE: bicycle travels

March 25, 2010
7:00 pm

Sanjule
Tim SanJule has ridden his bicycle solo for thousands of miles on five continents. He'll share the nuts and bolts (and a few stories) of how to get started so you can pedal away.

Monday Evening Book Club

Meets monthly (Sept - July) on the 1st Monday of each month 7:00 to 8:30 pm. Please drop in and join us!

Want to see what we've already read? Try Searching the calendar.

Monday Evening Book Club

ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOGTHE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG by Muriel Barbery

March 01, 2010
7:00 pm

The lives of fifty-four-year-old concierge Rene Michel and extremely bright, suicidal twelve-year-old Paloma Josse are transformed by the arrival of a new tenant, Kakuro Ozu. Check the Catalog arrow

Monday Evening Book Club

LITTLE BEELITTLE BEE by Chris Cleave

April 05, 2010
7:00 pm

A haunting novel about the tenuous friendship that blooms between two disparate strangers--one an illegal Nigerian refugee, the other a recent widow from suburban London. Check the Catalog arrow

Monday Evening Book Club

TIME AND AGAINTIME AND AGAIN by Jack Finney

May 03, 2010
7:00 pm

Simon Morley is selected by a secret government agency to test Einstein's theory of the past co-existing with the present and is transported back to 1880s New York. Check the catalog bullet

Future Readings:

Crozet Library 20th Birthday Celebration
“Twenty Years in the Depot”

A Branch Library

Original Crozet Library
Original Crozet Library

The possibility of a branch library for Crozet was first discussed publicly at the November 1963 meeting of the Crozet Lion’s Club; Raymond Williams, then director of the McIntire Library spoke on the subject. Williams noted in his talk that the area had been served for the previous ten years by the bookmobile.

On January 3, 1964, the Crozet Library committee was established with Roy Patterson as chairman. The purpose of the group was to establish a library until financial support could be secured through the county during the new fiscal year beginning July 1. The library opened its doors on May 6, 1964 in a small building across the street from its current location.

Looking for a Home

When, after several years, the Olive Tree building proved too small to house the growing collection, the books were moved into what is now Crozet Hardware. This site, too, had to be abandoned, however, in order to accomodate the current business when the development of Windham forced it out of its old quarters.

As a temporary measure, the library was housed in a portion of the building that now contains the Green Olive Tree, though quarters were so cramped that almost a third of the collection had to be stored off-site. The library was open 22 hours a week.

Mary Plum, previous Branch Manager, recalls,“There were boxes, carts and stacks of books everywhere that couldn’t fit on the shelves. Someone would come in looking for a particular cook book and I would say, ‘’Check that pile.’”

The Crozet Library League was organized, and worked to raise funds and bring the community’s attention to this situation.

A New Old Building

just a test
Old Railroad Depot

In 1984, the Perry Foundation purchased and restored the railroad depot, abandoned for years, as a home for the library. The new facility was opened in May of that year with festivities that included the Court Square Dancers and the Crossroads String Band. The building itself had a long history.

The railroad line serving Crozet was opened in the 1850s. Originally known as the Virginia Central Railroad, this line pushed from Gordonsville west into the Shenadoah Valley through a tunnel engineered by Claudius Crozet, the French engineer for whom the town is named. In 1858, the first train rolled through the tunnel into the valley.

The first wooden frame depot was built to serve nearby Miller School, and Crozet grew up around it, encouraged by the region’s flourishing fruit industry. Plans were drawn for a new brick depot as early as 1916, but World War I delayed the start of construction. The building now occupied by the library was built in 1923 at a cost of $16,000.

The Library Today

New Children's Furniture
Public Internet Terminals

When the automated catalog and record-keeping system was installed in 1987, circulation doubled. The growth of the community and library business continued apace. Presently, the Crozet branch has a staff of five: three full-time and two part-time employees, circulates about 10,000 items each month, and is open for 48 hours each week.



Looking Toward the Future

Since the library is the fourth busiest branch of the JMRL system, and the Crozet area has experienced rapid growth, more space is needed for the Crozet Library to serve its population. Once again, the library will be on the move to a new home. (see above)