By Karen Hendricks • Photography by Casey Martin
The Adams County Library System celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2025. Also contributing to the area’s literary scene: local writers of all genres and new owners breathing new life into a longtime bookstore.
The story of Adams County’s libraries—like the books on its very shelves—follows a developing plot with twists and turns. In 2025, the storyline reaches an exciting climax as the Adams County Library System celebrates its 80th anniversary.
Yet a common theme—woven into the library’s founding—still rings true today: Community connections are its lifeblood.
“I’ve never worked in an organization that was this responsive to meeting the needs and wants of the community,” says Miranda Wisor, the library system’s executive director.
She’s talking about much more than books. In addition to stocking shelves with everything from thrillers to romance, children’s and teens’ titles, today’s Adams County libraries serve as community hubs for programs, information and clubs.
Just like a classic novel that remains relevant today, the Adams County Library System continues to build on the mission its founders set in the 1940s. And like any good page-turner, there are new chapters to discover in this new year and beyond.
Bookish Beginnings
In the midst of World War II, the Gettysburg community recognized a need: Concerned citizens met at the Adams County courthouse in 1944 to lay the foundation for the county’s public library. They were acting out of “a desperate need, especially for young people and returning veterans,” according to their minutes. Incorporated in January 1945 as the Adams County Public Library Association, the first library opened its doors in January 1946, operating out of a leased house on Carlisle Street.
By 1949, the library association acquired the abandoned county jail at auction for $9,000. The facility, on East High Street, served as the main branch of the library until 1992 (and is now the Gettysburg Borough Building).
In 1992, the library moved to its current location on Baltimore Street, Gettysburg’s Federal Building. Built in 1913—the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg—the structure housed the War Department/National Park Service headquarters of the Gettysburg National Military Park for 50 years, then Gettysburg’s U.S. Post Office for 30 years.
This year marks 33 years of its use as the Gettysburg library branch as well as the headquarters for the countywide library system, which has grown to include six locations.
Hitting the Books
January is a busy month for the library. As people settle into the new year, Wisor says several trends emerge in their reading material.
“We see an increase in self-help or self-improvement books,” says Wisor, noting that self-help has multiple meanings.
“In the last couple of years, there’s been growth in people learning new skills—whether you’re into yarn arts, how to do woodworking, and what I like to think of as skills that are somewhat lost arts,” Wisor says. “We also have a phenomenal cookbook collection, and those are popular in the colder months when people want to try cooking new things.”
Throughout the year, the adult collection supports very diverse reading habits in fiction and nonfiction, Wisor says. “For most of my career, the most popular fiction genre has been mysteries,” Wisor says. “On a national scale, that changed over the past few years, and now the most popular genre is romance. I would speculate it’s because people are looking for happy endings.”
Meantime, circulation of children’s books peaks through the summer, coinciding with the library system’s popular summer reading program and events.
“Circulation ebbs and flows throughout the year, but we average 35,000 in circulation every month,” says Wisor. “Our physical circulation far exceeds our digital circulation, but in December and January, we beef up the digital collection because people always get new devices around Christmas and they’re staying home more—so this time of year is always a boon for e-books.”
Annually, between 410,000 and 440,000 unique titles are borrowed from Adams County’s libraries. Considering that the county’s population is slightly over 100,000—although not everyone is a library card-carrying user—that means about four books are checked out of the library every year per resident.
This would suggest that Adams County is statistically ahead of the curve. About half of all Americans (48.5%) read at least one book annually, according to a 2022 joint study by the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Shelf Life
However, books aren’t the only things on the shelves. The Library of Things opened at the Gettysburg Library last fall, offering unique items such as blood pressure monitors, a soil tester, ukulele kit, games and puzzles, telescopes, crafts, cordless screwdrivers and even a croquet set.
Likewise, book learning isn’t the only type of learning supported by the Adams County Library System. A full slate of programs and clubs are designed to meet community needs and nurture a lifelong love of learning. For example, the January calendar includes a meeting of the True Crime Book Club, Jigsaw Puzzle Swap, a Saturday Matinee classic movie, Fun with Chess, Chicks with Sticks (a knitting and crocheting group), as well as children and teen events: Baby Bookworm story time, Legopalooza, Homeschool STEAM events and Barks & Books (reading time with a therapy dog).
Attendance at library programs was up nearly 25% countywide, as of August 2024, compared to the same timeframe over the previous year. New Oxford’s attendance actually shot up nearly 200%.
“I think that people are looking for community connections and other people with similar interests,” Wisor says.
But there’s a problem—a good problem: All of this success means the Gettysburg Library, including the library system’s headquarters, has maxed out its space.
Turning the Page
The library has had its eye on a new location, currently owned by the United Lutheran Seminary, near the YWCA of Gettysburg & Adams County.
“We’re already under contract with the seminary, we have provisional approval from Cumberland Township and Gettysburg Borough, and we hope to have final approval in January,” Wisor says.
While the land is being secured, the library has contracted with an architectural firm and is holding community sessions—harkening back to its 1940s-era origin—to include the public’s wants and needs.
“There’s been a lot of dream-casting going on,” says Wisor. “We’re talking about more flex space for activities; the type of community third space where people can connect, more intentional space for young adults and teens, a kitchen area for cooking programs and maker space where we could hold programs that teach people how to use technology or tools—learning how to sew, for example.”
The ballpark figure for a new facility is in the $18 to $20 million range, and Wisor predicts the doors could open—optimistically—by 2030 or 2032.
“It’s extremely exciting because there are so many new possibilities. Our staff is excited because this will be the first time in the history of our library in Gettysburg that we’ll be in a location built with the intention of being a library.”
As those visions unfold, Wisor encourages Adams Countians to enjoy the 80th anniversary celebration events happening throughout 2025—with details being announced on the library’s website soon.
She also looks forward to announcing this year’s pick for the Adams County Reads One Book program—the library system’s longest running program for adults, marking its 14th year. She says it’s a shining example of how the library continues to dovetail with the community.
“It’s intended to be a way of bringing the community together on a shared topic and encouraging conversation between neighbors and the community,” Wisor says. “I think books provide us a pathway to start conversation. People feel comfortable sharing their opinions about the book and how it relates to their own lives. It nurtures conversations about shared interests that grew out of what, on the surface, was just a book.”
The Adams County Library System includes six locations:
Gettysburg Library, 140 Baltimore St., Gettysburg
Jean Barnett Trone Memorial Library of East Berlin,
105 Locust St., East Berlin
Carroll Valley Library, 5685 Fairfield Rd., Carroll Valley
Harbaugh-Thomas Library, 59 W. York St., Biglerville
Littlestown Library, 232 North Queen St., Littlestown
New Oxford Area Library, 122 North Peters St., New Oxford
Top-Shelf Books
Adams County Library System’s most popular books in 2024
Adults:
The Women by Kristin Hannah (historical fiction)
Funny Story by Emily Henry (romance)
Homesteading and craft books
Children:
Camp by Kayla Miller (graphic novel)
Collections of joke books
Community & Synchronicity:
Little Fox Coffee & Books
Kiki Page often thinks of a famous quote by British writer Neil Gaiman: “A town isn’t a town without a bookstore.”
Not only does she believe it’s true, but in partnership with her husband Brooks, the pair puts that quote into action every day as owners of Hanover’s Little Fox Coffee & Books. They opened last summer, continuing the bookstore tradition at 125 Broadway established for nearly 30 years by the former Reader’s Café.
“We both always shared the dream of owning a bookstore one day,” says Kiki. “We would always go to Reader’s Café after visiting the pediatrician with our son—because that’s what my mom did with me, as I was growing up. When I heard the previous owners wanted to sell, I immediately said this feels like synchronicity.”
Even more so, because the couple previously lived in Seattle for several years, where they worked in the city’s highly acclaimed coffee scene. Today, they can apply those skills, along with their love of books, at Little Fox.
“Kiki makes our pumpkin spice sauces for our drinks, and it sells out every week,” says Brooks.
The couple has been quick to establish a welcoming, safe space for the entire community, including story times, book clubs and other events.
Trends in book sales include queer literature, gothic horror, historical fiction and nonfiction, books on Indigenous Peoples and lots of children’s books—at least half of which are purchased as gifts, Kiki says.
“A huge motivation for us was the opportunity to have a safe space for the LBGTQ+ community—an inclusive space for people who love literature and art,” says Kiki. “During the first two months we were open, we met more people than we’ve met over the past two years—it’s fulfilling a need.”
Little Fox Coffee & Books, 125 Broadway, Hanover littlefoxbooks.co
Randall Wilson
Chronicling the History of an American Icon—Yellowstone
Randall Wilson lost track of how many times he visited Yellowstone in the course of writing A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World’s First National Park.
He figures it was at least 10 times. And he remembers well how many years he spent writing.
“It took eight years—I wanted to attempt to create a comprehensive history of Yellowstone, because it didn’t seem to exist,” says Wilson, a professor of environmental studies at Gettysburg College for 25 years.
The last time a similar book had been written was in the 1970s, but a lot of history has unfolded across the park’s two million acres since then.
“In the past 40 or 50 years, there were big wildfires in ’88, the reintroduction of wolves, problems with bison and elk, problems with wildlife and tourism, then climate change and more wildfires,” Wilson says.
It was important for Wilson to document the park’s physical and natural history, which spans Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
“Part of the environmental history shows how the natural environment affected this history of the park, as well as the history of the nation,” says Wilson. That’s because Yellowstone set a precedent as the nation’s first national park.
The concept came to Wilson while he was researching and writing his first book, America’s Public Lands: From Yellowstone to Smokey Bear and Beyond.
“I kept coming back to Yellowstone. It seemed like it was foundational in forming not only the National Park Service, but the monuments, the forest service—they all had significant influence from Yellowstone,” Wilson says.
For those reasons, Wilson says anyone interested in U.S. history or the national parks would enjoy his book.
“It’s not a travel guide, but it gives you all the background and context on issues ranging from relationships with Native Americans and disputes over land rights, to our changing views about wildlife, the rise of ecological sciences and the very beginning of ecotourism,” Wilson says. “Yellowstone is a very unique place—one of a handful of places in the country that helped shape our thinking about nature.”
Anne Douds
Writing and Striving for Community Good
As a practicing attorney for nearly 20 years through 2012, Anne Douds noticed patterns.
“I would often see the same kinds of cases—with different people—but the same type of case,” says Douds, of Gettysburg.
That experience laid the groundwork for the publishing of her fourth book, Criminal Justice Reform, From Arrest to Bail Decisions, published in 2024. It’s the first in a three-part series examining the criminal justice system.
“Each chapter opens with a vignette about a relatively high-profile case most people have heard of,” says Douds. “For example, one opens with Breonna Taylor, the history of no-knock warrants and their current status.”
Other high-profile case studies include George Floyd, the Uvalde school shooting and Alex Murdaugh.
Douds, now chair and professor of public policy at Gettysburg College, says her book is designed for community advocates and practitioners, as well as undergraduate or graduate students.
“I wanted to come up with a blueprint for engaging at the community level that could percolate up into grassroots movements,” Doud says. Each chapter includes “ideas for engagement around that policy in communities.”
One chapter focuses on the importance of child advocacy centers in the investigative process of child abuse cases and is co-written with the Adams County Children’s Advocacy Center’s director Elida Murray.
“I hope that those who use the book will look at it from the view that we’re all in this together,” says Douds, “that we can strive for the greater good together.”
Hannah Rae Meeson
Magician of Fiction
Hannah Rae Meeson finds inspiration everywhere. Sometimes it’s a misheard song lyric. Or a catchy phrase a friend says in casual conversation.
“I don’t really know how to explain it,” says Meeson, of Gettysburg. “I make notes in my phone, writing things down, thinking, ‘You can use this later in life.’ It happens all the time.”
It’s a strategy that’s helped Meeson write a dozen books to date, self-published under the name Hannah Rae.
“I queried agents forever,” says the Upper Adams High School English teacher. “I got a couple rejections, or I wouldn’t hear back. In the meantime, I kept writing.”
Her characters and their adventures couldn’t wait for the traditional book publishing route. Meeson began self-publishing her books 15 years ago and has never looked back. She’s developed a process— creating cover art to match the stories inside. And she has an editor at her fingertips.
“My mom is my number one editor—she is very honest and has great attention to detail,” Meeson says of her mother, Nancy Newman of Gettysburg, a longtime children’s librarian who retired from the Gettysburg Library.
Meeson describes her genre as magical realism, “defined as a world that is mostly real, but has hints of magic,” she explains. While all of her books are standalones, many of the characters and plotlines dovetail with each other.
Adams County readers may even pick up on locally based characters, coffee shops or even current events. That’s the case with Meeson’s latest book, An Illusion of Control.
“I became very involved in going to school board meetings,” says Meeson. “People were pushing for books to be censored, talking about whether students should have access. It felt like it was tearing my district apart. It’s so black-and-white of an issue for some people, and after being there, I felt like it was actually very gray.”
So she started writing about it, channeling what she heard at those meetings into characters that people could identify with.
“Both sides think they’re doing the right things for kids, and I tried to make every character so real, you could empathize with him or her,” says Meeson. “You might not agree with them, but you could understand where they’re coming from, why people are so scared about allowing preferred pronouns or a book with sex in it.”
Self-publishing was an asset for Meeson, as she churned out the book, based upon a timely issue. An Illusion of Control has been one of her most popular books.
“Self-publishing has been really fun,” Meeson reflects. “It’s not overly profitable—I can’t quit my day job. But I have to put a new roof on my house, so anytime I get a profit I put it towards that. At some point, these books will put a roof over my head.”
