Special Collections

Chanticleer Collection

We are proud to present the Chanticleer Collection, a collection of titles dedicated to horticulture, nature, and the natural sciences. The collection offers materials for both adults and young people and includes books and magazines. With the generous support of the Chanticleer Foundation, this unique collection is grown annually.

Global Collection

Our Global Collection contains a curated collection of titles in the Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Arabic and French languages, as well as English as a Second Language (ESL) materials. Each language collection consists of popular fiction and nonfiction adult and juvenile items intended for the recreational reading of patrons fluent in the languages represented. The ESL collection is intended for non-native speakers of English to assist them in learning the English language.

Oral History Collection

Oral history interviews acquaint the listener with day-to-day experiences of a way of life that would otherwise be unknown. Without this oral tradition of our oldest citizens transmitting their history, values and culture, then perhaps each new generation would have to create its world anew. Each Oral History interview is indeed a small “book” dramatically depicting life as it was.

Radnor Memorial Library’s Oral History Project was made possible through grants from the Sun Company and the McLean Contributionship and CETA funds. In all of the Oral History interviews, the objective was to reveal a life and time in Radnor when it was unhurried and had an unspoiled, open landscape. The interviews were recorded between 1978 and 1982.

Pennsylvania Collection

The Pennsylvania Collection consists of mostly historical books which focus on the State of Pennsylvania, Radnor Township, and the region surrounding Radnor, which includes Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Bucks, and Lancaster counties. Radnor Memorial Library is one of the few libraries in the Delaware County Library System that houses such a specialized collection on Pennsylvania, so we are both a local and county-wide resource for these materials.

Main Line Times & Suburban

Main Line Times & Suburban is the local newspaper covering Radnor Township and the Main Line. It began as The Suburban and Wayne Times and merged with Main Line Life in January, 2009 to become Main Line Suburban Life. A merger with Main Line Times in May, 2018 led to the current Main Line Times & Suburban. Commonly known as The Suburban, the Library’s holdings are on microfilm from 1948-1980, and in bound volumes from 1981 on.