Since 1919, the library in Pitman has been a community gathering center for the small town’s residents and visitors. After two previous locations over the years, the current-day library building was erected in 1961 via donor, Joseph McCowan and his family. The library’s leadership has vowed – since its conception – to make it a place to serve the public.
Carmen Cattafi is the office manager at McCowan Memorial Library. He grew up in town, and as a kid he would rely on the library for books, games, people, and for a safe space to hangout. The library is still that way, asserts Cattafi.
“To me, the evolution of the library and the renovations done to spruce it up some years ago has been pretty rewarding as a community member,” he said. “It means the library is not falling by the wayside. It’s something that the borough has invested to expand and improve upon.
“And as long as you weren’t breaking anything or causing too much of a hassle, it was a place as a kid where you could always go to, with books to read for every age group.”
To this day, Cattafi and crew vow to keep the library for the public, by the local community.
“For our two-square-mile, densely-populated community, the library has morphed into a social hub,” he continued. “It’s media, books, internet, free Wi-Fi, programming for children, adults, teens… Our group rooms are utilized frequently by different associations, you see kids playing [Dungeons and Dragons and other board games]… .
“Growing up here with our little community library, it is a valuable thing to me and the community at large… We have this small library that allows people to come in from around the area.”
Some libraries may only allow card holders, or a town’s taxpayers to utilize services, according to Cattafi. However, Pitman’s McCowan Memorial Library is open to the public—a diverse crowd of individuals from Pitman and beyond.
The library is there for the public when it’s time to take out a book, utilize the building, attend programming at the library, or even stop in to utilize the bathrooms during events in uptown Pitman, assured the library’s management team.
During Uptown Pitman’s Fourth Friday events – the community gathering that features a beer garden, food truck, live music and games that runs from May to September – the library stays open until 6 p.m. on Fridays to “allow people to come in and use bathrooms till the event is over… It’s another way we work together with events in town,” Cattafi said.
Programming at the Library
The connection that the library has with its local community is the reason why any event at Pitman’s McCowan Memorial library is well attended. On any given day, the library crowd could range from children with parents and grandparents, to teenagers and adults as well—all stopping in at various times to fulfill various needs.
“We have story time at 10:30 a.m. and we’ll see a significant increase in our crowd due to that,” said Library Director Andrew Coldren. “It can be pandemonium with the small children reading books and playing with toys and games.”
The story time programming is well known throughout the community.
“Our children’s programs are some of the best in the area,” Coldren continued. “We take great pride in that as a small library. Karen Richards (who oversees the children’s services at the library) makes the most of her resources to deliver good programming to kids. This fosters a lifelong positive feeling for public libraries as a welcoming place. It gets a little loud here, but shushing kids doesn’t make them feel welcome.”
Creating such an environment for kids, parents, and teens alike is one of the reasons why Cattafi finds his job so rewarding.
“We’ve gotten positive feedback from our community,” he said. “And people from other municipalities tell us how much they love to come to our library.
“Our statistics for story time are about 50/50 for people in town versus those coming from surrounding areas. That is a positive indicator that people do appreciate the story time programming.”
Having said that, after story time, the crowd usually settles down.
“Otherwise, it’s steady throughout the day,” said Coldren. “We have a regular group of people who in many cases have been coming all their lives, and for several generations. Since our physical location is right in the middle of town by the park, it’s a social community center where people hangout, read the newspaper, make copies… So, the crowd can range any given day.”
That’s no hyperbole. Since being incorporated as a New Jersey town in 1905, Pitman’s locals have kept the library in their routine.
“In 2019, we held a celebration for the 100th year of our library,” Coldren said. “It was cool to learn that we’re one of the older libraries—not just in our town but one of the older libraries in the region.
“It’s cool because a group of women in town were tired of having to go to Camden’s library. They wrote a petition for the town to create a public library. That library has moved a couple times and now our physical location is in the center of town. I think the symbolism means something. It has always been important to the people of Pitman to maintain a public library… .
“It contributes to the history of our town and it’s something to be valued. It’s not the same everywhere so we don’t take that for granted… .”
Six years ago, Coldren, who went to school for library science, came from Glassboro to accept the director position at Pitman’s library. He came from a professional museum curator background.
“It’s been a wonderful experience to get to know this community,” continued Coldren, who went on talking about public service. “Everyone wants to know where you’re from and how you are connected to them. And it’s a welcoming environment.
“As a public entity we are custodians for this town. It’s been happening since 1919, and I am proud to be part of that. I am happy with our group of people at the library and all the credit goes to them in terms of making this for the community… They have a strong understanding of our patrons and what their needs are.”
Coldren combined with Cattafi make a powerful duo to spearhead a spot that means so much for the core Pitman scene.
“My mother and her mother grew up in town,” explained Cattafi. “Now, my daughter, and grandson will walk into the library on any given day. We have the same shared experience which is unique and it’s a nice feeling… .
“It feels like we’ve been going through a town rebirth over the last 10 (to) 15 years. Pitman’s populated with restaurants, an awesome ice cream place, a bookstore here in town—it all brings in people who are curious about the library.”
It seems Pitman will continue to bustle into the fall and winter with interesting, and unifying community events.
“The big one coming up is the Fall Craft Show [on Sept. 21],” reminded Coldren. “The library is not open for the event, but friends of our library do a big used book sale. Also, there are children’s programs, fund raising… The event is a community staple. And we’ll be doing a Christmas house tour in Pitman where we welcome people from outside the area to look at the library, and we try to participate as much as we can.
“But our focus is always on serving the community,” Coldren said.
McCowan Memorial Library is located at 15 Pitman Ave. To find out more visit us online at mccowan-pitman.org.
