Campo Library’s 50th Anniversary Remembers Local History

The Campolindo library held a celebratory party for its 50th anniversary, otherwise known as the “Golden Anniversary,” on November 16. The event was attended by a variety of people including students, teachers, administrators, district office staff, community members, and invited student musicians. It was open house style, so people could come and go as they pleased, with live music, decorations, and cupcakes.

Campolindo Librarian Sarah Morgan was proud of how the event turned out. “I thought it went great. We’ve all been stuck inside for over a year so it was really nice for people to be able to walk around and connect with old friends.”
Morgan has been the school’s librarian for 7 years. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen the library evolve a lot in the physical sense like furniture and furnishings, and our book collection has both grown and shrunk throughout the years as we weed through the collection relatively often. I also think I’ve done a lot to make people want to come in more, it’s busier than it used to be as community members are using our space a lot,” said Morgan.

The library was set up with historical panels that included images from the 1971 yearbook with informational blurbs next to them. There were also panels with fun facts beginning as early as 1971.

“This anniversary party was significant because people don’t often think about physical spaces being important to the community, especially kids, but really there’s something about celebrating buildings that makes people appreciate special places that have special meaning,” said Morgan. “It also gave us an excuse to throw a party.”

Sophomore Atlas Atlsnko attended the event because he had “really missed [the library] during remote learning.”
“I mainly use the library as a place to relax after school and do homework. It’s a really nice ambiance and I like having background noise when I study. It’s almost scary knowing the library has been here for 50 years because, it’s like, we’re using the same library as people 50 years ago did, those people sat here for the same reason that we’re sitting here now,” they said.

Freshman Sara Hlavac also attended the event. “The library is a very nice, calming place. It’s really cool to see how the library has progressed over the years,” she said.

Morgan’s biggest takeaway from the event was that “it was just a time of sharing ideas. I think it was a walk down memory lane for alumni who graduated previously and an interesting historical lesson for younger people. You don’t really think about it but there’s been 50 years of kids in and out of this library, and I think the event was a fun way of learning about local history.”

Editor’s Note: In the article, sophomore Atlas Atlsnko should be Atlas Benko.