Transforming a Match Factory into the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

The American Philatelic Research Library, one of the largest libraries in the world specializing in stamp collecting and postal history, opened its new library in 2016. The library attracts researchers from around the world, yet it was constructed in the unlikely location of an abandoned match factory building at the edge of a small town, Bellefonte, in central Pennsylvania, hundreds of miles from a major metropolitan area. Throughout the renovation process and library opening, the library built and strengthened connections with the community of researchers around the world who use its resources, and with the local community. The architect’s design concept for the project was to produce a state-of-theart complement to the historical factory exterior. The new library unites collections which had previously been housed separately and adds functional elements such as a rare book room, exhibition space, work areas with individual reading lights and power outlets, along with accessibility features. The story of how the library found its new home and how it built support for the renovation project by engaging with its own history and the local history of Bellefonte, demonstrates the power of the library as place and can inform future library building projects worldwide.