Our Story

Conshohocken Free Library was founded in 1907 and became a branch of Montgomery County Norristown Public Library in 1973.

Our building was constructed as a home in 1857 by Lewis Lukens. After his death, his grandchildren gave the house to the community of Conshohocken Borough to be used as a library. The building is the responsibility of the community through a volunteer advisory board.

Conshohocken Free Library’s “pollinator patch” refers to the garden beds you see around the perimiter of the lawn, above the stone walls.  This installation helps collect rainwater run off and provides a habitat for our smallest wildlife in the community- pollinators!

All plants in the garden are native to Pennsylvania and beneficial to pollinating insects and birds.  Below is a list of specific species in the garden:

• Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)
• Broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus)
• Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Fireworks goldenrod (Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’)
• Foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
• Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’)
• Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
• New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
• Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
• Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

Community Canopy Project spearheaded this effort with garden design, donation of plants and loaning of garden tools.  Installation was possible with the combined efforts of volunteers from organization across the community and beyond including:

• Friends of the Conshohocken Free Library
• Friends of Conshohocken Parks
• Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (Colonial Service Unit)
• Conshohocken Environmental Advisory Council
• Conshohocken Community Garden.

Volunteers from these organizations continue to nurture the garden with weeding and watering.  The first year of maintenance is crucial to any new garden installation.  With community support, the garden will thrive for years to come.

Volunteers continue to help with maintaining the pollinator patch.  It attaches insects and birds to the library’s lawn.  The next logical step was to make the small green space more safe for birds.  Studies estimate over 1 billion birds are killed from building collisions each year in the United States.  We don’t want the library to add to that number.

On March 21, 2026, some of the same volunteers mentioned previously and many new faces gathered outside the library to learn about retrofitting the windows to prevent bird collisions.  Small dots spaced two inches apart on reflected windows are enough to let birds know they can not fly through the glass.

Bird Safe Philly, Valley Forge Audubon Society and Liberty Bird Alliance helped train volunteers during the project.  Many learned retrofitting for the first time!  The project qualifies are library to be recognized as a Bird Friendly Habitat by the Pennsylvania Audubon Council.  Watch short video below about the project!

As a grant recipient from Let’s Go Compost, we are excited to announce worm composting has come to the library.  Our worm compost will used in our pollinator patch to keep our native plants healthy and strong.  We look forward to educating the public about worm composting through public programs!

What do we compost?

Brown Matter makes up 75% of our worm farm bin.  We use shredded newspaper, brown paper and even old book pages.  Our receipt paper is not safe for the soil.  We also avoid any paper with glue, stickers, glitter or other micro plastic items.

Green Matter makes up 25% of our worm farm bin.  Once a week, the worms are fed unprocessed, raw food waste, mostly fruits and veggie scraps brought in from staff from home.  WE AVOID ANYTHING CITRUS BECAUSE WORMS DO NOT LIKE IT IN THEIR BIN!

We also avoid dairy, meat, glass, metal and plastic.

Composting is a great way to limit food waste and improve the environment!

Watch this quick video of our worm compost farm!