The Northeast Regional Library on Cottman Avenue was built with a Modernist eye and a civic mind. Part of the Free Library’s 1956 Regional Plan to put a library within 15 minutes of every Philadelphian’s doorstep, the branch was also the first in the area, officially unifying the relatively new neighborhood with the rest of the city. Molly Lester looks at the origins of Northeast Philadelphia expansion through the lens of this award winning Mid-Century mainstay
