On Saturday, June 2, the Auburn Branch of Cranston Library held their open house in celebration of CPL's 50th anniversary. In fact, Auburn is the oldest library in Cranston, starting back in 1882, making this its 130th year.

Branch librarian Karen McGrath drew up a timeline to show when the Auburn library started and how many locations it has been in, which is a contentious topic with some saying nine and some 13.

The staff arranged for a scavenger hunt around the library, a slide show looping with the history of Auburn, crafts for the children where they could emboss their own handmade bookmarks with the stamp originally used in the library over 100 years ago.

Four-year-old Jane Hardiman got her first library card when she was nine months old, said her mom Calla.

"We are frequent fliers at all the libraries. She is a big reader," she said.

Jane said her favorite book is The Three Little Pigs.

Friends of the Auburn Library Association treasurer Fred Raisner reiterated the importance of a good library system in a community.

"Libraries should be and are the center of community life,” he said. “There are programs for all ages and stages of life. The citizenship classes, the ELL programs, all the new technology that's coming in, libraries will never be obsolete.”

McGrath said she enjoyed preparing for the event.

"I really liked doing all the timeline research,” she said. “Since we recently digitalized old newspapers, I was able to go back and find out so much about the library and the community. We had 169 people attend the party. I’m very, very pleased at the turnout and that everyone seemed to have a good time.”