It may be small, but the Miller Park branch of the Upper Arlington Public Library holds a lot of memories.

And last weekend, the community gathered to celebrate 70 years worth of those memories.

“I always describe this as the community’s living room,” said Danna Armstrong, manager of the Miller Park branch. “This is a place where people come in to meet one another and sit around the fireplace, and it’s a nice walking community.”

The library hosted an open house to celebrate its 70th year in service on Feb. 11, and to recognize its fifth year since a major renovation kept the library up and running. Library staff and longtime patrons pored over old photographs and shared memories of the small branch, which was named the area’s first library in 1942.

Library director Ann Moore said the cozy building at 1901 Arlington Ave. fills a unique need that the city’s larger main branch cannot.

“A lot of people love Miller Park because it is very much a small, neighborhood library, whereas sometimes people may feel the main library is just too big and overwhelming,” Moore said. “We knew before it was renovated that Miller Park needed so much work. It was a place where people would just stop in to pick up their books and leave, and it was too small to have any large programs.”

The Miller Park branch, which originally served as the city’s first school and the field house for the Upper Arlington Co., nearly didn’t make it past its 60th birthday.

“When we would look at things that needed (to be) done, say new lighting, it always seemed too costly for that tiny building, and at the same time our patrons were always asking us for a larger place to gather,” Moore said. “We were being asked for things that we couldn’t provide there, and there are always money issues, so some things just didn’t get done at Miller Park.”

Faced with the reality that their neighborhood library could be lost, a number of residents and the Upper Arlington Foundation came together to raise private funds in the early part of the last decade, Moore said.

In addition to a large sum of money from one anonymous donor, the UA Foundation was able to come up with about $700,000, and renovations on the building began in May 2006. When completed the following year, the library was ADA-compliant, asbestos-free, and ready to serve the community’s needs into the future.

“The great news is that Miller Park is used so much more now than it was prior to its renovation,” Moore said. “People can sit and read, or study, and it’s a lovely environment now.

“Every time I visit, I’m so amazed that we were able to accomplish that. We faced ADA issues and all kind of things making that building what it is today.”

The library will host other events throughout this year to recognize its past and promote its future. Library activities and other information can be found online at www.ualibrary.org.