Two weeks ago, on September 4th, I returned to my hometown of Scranton, Pa., for an author talk about my 2nd book, Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way, at Library Express, an innovative combination store and library in The Mall at Steamtown.
In 2010, I wrote about my previous author talk in Scranton; and in 2012 (as well as in Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way), I wrote about Drucker’s connection to the city, the commencement address he gave 50 years ago, on May 31, 1964, at the University of Scranton, a short distance from the mall. The Kania School of Management at the U of S prominently features a Drucker quote on its website.
It was wonderful to connect with so many friends and family members, and to meet a number of new people. Scranton has had considerable problems in recent years, yet in many ways it is more vibrant and hopeful than when I grew up there in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Along with the continued expansion and development of the University of Scranton, similar stories can be found at other area centers of higher education, including Marywood University, Penn State Worthington Scranton, Lackawanna College (whose flagship building for many years housed the high school I attended, Scranton Central) and especially The Commonwealth Medical College, a bold new fully accredited school that required major entrepreneurial initiatives to become a reality.
And public library systems around the country can learn a lot from Library Express, which is part of the Lackawanna County Library System. The store took over a large and airy space in the mall that had been vacated by American Eagle. Besides lending materials, it also sells new and used books, and produces many events, especially now that extensive renovations are going on outside the main Albright Memorial Library, across the street from Lackawanna College. The grounds of that library were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
