The Chapel Hill Public Library turns 50 years old this year, and in honor of that milestone the Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library on Sunday will present a panel discussion on memories of the library from 1958 to the present.

Jane Dyer, Molly Cameron, Lisa Price and Ken Broun will relate memories of the library's founding, various sites, fundraising efforts and other issues. Kathy Harris, a library board member and retired school librarian, will moderate the discussion, which will begin at 3 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room at the Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Drive.

The library has been in three different buildings during its half-century of existence, and it is preparing for its next incarnation; a major renovation and expansion of the current building is due to begin soon.

Harris will present a brief historical overview, with photographs, of the three buildings that have housed the library. The Chapel Hill Public Library began in 1958 in Hill House on West Franklin Street, where it remained until 1967. It moved to the corner of East Frankin Street and Boundary Street (where the Chapel Hill Museum is now) and remained there until 1994, when it moved to its current location off Estes Drive.

The panelists will share memories and anecdotes from the library's history. Members of the audience will be invited to ask questions and share memories of their own.

Cameron, a native Chapel Hillian, is a professional librarian who worked in all three library buildings. Among other tales, she will tell the story of the precursor to the Chapel Hill Public Library, a children's library that was housed in the parish house of Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church.

Dyer, a retired reference librarian, will talk about the adventures of working in a library in an old house converted to apartments.

Price served many years on the library board as a member and chairman. She will discuss how she helped lobby for a new building, and worked on an effort to try to get a supplemental bond for a larger library in 1990.

Broun served as mayor of Chapel Hill from 1991 to 1995 and helped dedicate the new library in May 1994, with 3,000 people attending.

For information, call 968-2780.