Fifty years never looked so good for the Whitehall Township Public Library.

On Saturday, the library celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala of sorts.

Library staff, family, friends and patrons packed the library to celebrate the library's contributions to the community the past five decades.

Patty Vahey, library director, said the library began preparing for the celebration back in February. Staff and the library board met to discuss what the 50th celebration would provide.

"We wanted to see what we could do to bring more people in," she said. "It just took off from there."

Lorraine Santalize, youth services librarian, assisted with preparing for the event.

The purpose of the celebration, she said, was to emphasize that the library is a community library, not just a Whitehall library.

"This is big for us," Santalize said. "I'm thrilled about it."

According to Santalize, community members, library staff and board of trustees members donated time and resources to make the 50th celebration possible.

"We're really trying to be cost effective," she said.

Library circulation clerk and Whitehall resident Sally Buchmiller attended the event with her two grandsons, twins Ben and Kyle Brandt of Fountain Hill.

Buchmiller said after retiring from Verizon many years ago, she decided to work at the library. She's been an employee for the past 21 years.

"I think it's great," she said of the celebration. "I love this library."

The library will continue to remain a strong presence in the Whitehall community, offering a wide variety of services, such as hardcover and softcover books, eBooks, computers and youth programs.

"It's a place for the community," Vahey said. "Where else can they go? We want people to feel like they are a part of it."