For several decades during the second half of the 19th century, William Egolff and his sisters Elizabeth and Barbara operated a boarding house in Carlisle in the three-story brick building at No. 7-11 North Hanover street.
"He gave River City the library building, bur he left all the books to her." Meredith Willson, The Music Man. That verse summarizes the history of public libraries in many American small towns. A generous citizen provides for a library and puts it in the care of a guardian. The public library in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is no exception, and it is the purpose here to address some aspects of its history, in particular its nature as a public and memorial library.