The ice cream social will be held at the Shepherdstown Public Library's building at 145 Higbee Lane. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — One year ago, the Shepherdstown Public Library moved into its new building at 145 Higbee Lane. And since then, the library has expanded its collection and started a number of new programs for those of all ages and interest levels.

In celebration of this great achievement, the Friends of the Shepherdstown Library (FOSL) have planned “A Sweet Celebration” ice cream social at the library on Aug. 19, from 1-3 p.m.

“This new library [building] significantly increased the library’s membership,” said FOSL President Ron Sisk. “It provides many programs and services to our community and is a valuable asset to the community.”

While the building’s one-year anniversary was the original reason for the free, community party, Sisk said it has now taken on a second purpose.

“This celebration will also offer an opportunity for the Friends of the Shepherdstown Library and our community to recognize the work Hali Taylor and Lee Ann Warner did on behalf of Shepherdstown to make this library a reality. They were quite a pair! They worked so well together. We really enjoyed their leadership,” Sisk said, referring to the library’s recently retired director and director of library development, respectively.

“We would like to get the community out and recognize the contributions these librarians made,” Sisk said. “Since Hali has been the Shepherdstown librarian for over 30 years, we suspect that there would be many that would like to thank her for her work at the library and contributions to the community.”

According to Sisk, it is appropriate for “A Sweet Celebration” to hold this dual focus, as the construction of a bigger home for the library had been Taylor’s passion project for many years. Warner herself had been employed by the library for the past decade to raise enough funds to complete the $4,797,655 project.

“We’ve been successful as an organization, working with them, because of the work they do and the things they provide to the community — people want to support them!” Sisk said at FOSL’s annual meeting in July. “We just facilitate the hard work they do!”

FOSL member Jennifer Bean said the event is being carefully organized to encourage community participation.

“Community members are invited to visit the library for ice cream, cake, music and children’s activities to celebrate a wonderful opening year. Local bands and musicians are invited to participate and show off their talent in appreciation of the library on an open-mic stage. Children’s events will include a story walk around the library gardens and a ‘book hunt’ to find free books for those eight-and-under,” Bean said. “This will be a wonderful opportunity for community members to wish library director Hali Taylor and director of library development Lee Ann Warner well on their retirements, and to welcome new library director Christy Hagerty. We want to give the community the chance to let Hali and Lee Ann know how much they appreciate them.”

Musicians interested in performing at “A Sweet Celebration” are encouraged to contact FOSL at foslwvinfo@gmail.com.

To learn more about plans for “A Sweet Celebration,” visit foslwv.org or follow the Friends of Shepherdstown Library Facebook page or Instagram, @foslwv.