WARSAW — One hundred years ago, the Warsaw Community Public Library opened its doors with 5,000 books on its shelves and 1,936 patrons.

On Tuesday, April 11, the WCPL celebrated 100 years of service with a birthday party open house from 3-7 p.m. at the library. The community turned out for the birthday party held at the library.

Patrons were invited in to the library to take a walk through memories of the last one hundred years. Birthday cake, photo albums and artifacts were on display during the event. Popcorn, cake and punch were offered during the party.

The library had several special touches during the party. Tenth grader Nathaniel Wise presented a LEGO replica of the 1917 WCPL. Over the course of several months, Wise designed a replica of the library using software. He then purchased LEGO pieces and built the replica. The library had a cake in the form of a stack of four books and a tablet. Each of the books represented 25 years of the library’s history. The tablet represented the future of the library.

The origin of the library began on March 2, 1914 when twelve women’s organizations met at the Methodist church in Warsaw to secure a Carnegie building to meet the needs of the growing community. Over the last one hundred years, the library has grown from 1,936 patrons to its current number of 20,000 library members.