The Internet’s first publicly accessible website was months away from launching, looking up books required using a card catalog and the word “google” was gibberish the day the Wareham Free Library moved to 59 Marion Road.

On Saturday afternoon, staff and patrons will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the move starting at 11 a.m. with games, activities, cake and music inside the library. All are welcome to attend.

The celebration arrives as the library struggles with losing its state certification in 2014. However, good news is on the horizon as Town Administrator Derek Sullivan is reviewing applications for a new library director.

“Then maybe we can have another celebration,” said Technical Services Librarian Kathy Murphy. “Come meet the the new director.”

For now, staff is focused on this weekend’s upcoming celebration while reflecting on the changes and challenges of the past few years.

Murphy, a lifelong Wareham resident, started working at the library in 1986. At that time, it was located at 75 High St.

Space was at a premium, she said.

“We had the children’s room in the cellar right across from the boiler room,” she said. “We had handicapped children that had to literally be carried downstairs because there was no elevator.”

With challenges such as those, a $2 million grant was secured from the state to construct a new building. Before the library opened on May 6, 1991 on Marion Road, staff spent two weeks packing and labeling books, which translated into a $70,000 savings for the town.

The National Guard arrived with trucks to move the boxes.

“Through the move, we only lost one box,” said Murphy. “The nine hundreds section of children’s nonfiction.”

President of the Wareham Friends Priscilla Porter was a trustee when officials broke ground on the new building.

“I think those shovels are still somewhere in the attic,” she said, adding that looking back at the library’s history has been part of the fun of putting together the party.

From 11 a.m. to noon there will be children’s activities and stories, from noon to 1 p.m. birthday cake will be served and from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the New England Irish Harp Orchestra will perform.

While Saturday is a day to celebrate, the library has been operating under a cloud since losing it’s certification in 2014. That June, Wareham voters defeated a Proposition 2 1/2 override that resulted in the town’s appropriation for the library being cut by more than half.

In fiscal year 2013-14, the town appropriated $295,637 to the library. The following fiscal year that figure was $125,000 due to the failed override, which is far below what the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners required. Commissioners said the town had to fund the library at its fiscal year 2013 level, which was $432,835.

On Nov. 6, the state decertified the library for not meeting minimum standards. That means the library is not receiving state aid. The penalty ends in 2017, provided the library has made progress towards meeting certain goals.

For a town Wareham’s size, the library must be open a minimum of 40 hours per work. Currently, it’s open 23 hours a week. Murphy said being open so few hours hinders patrons.

“Not everybody is traditional, a library serves those other people,” said Murphy. “The homeschoolers, working people who want to continue their education…You can’t get a job now without getting online to apply.”

Since 2014, there has been improvement budget-wise. Sullivan capped the library’s fiscal year budget request from the town at $210,000. While that figure is below the $230,000 to $245,000 trustees projected would be needed to operate, it’s a step in the right direction, said Murphy.

Another requirement includes hiring a library director with a master’s degree in library science.

Sullivan said he received nine applications for the position. Sullivan said he expects to fill the position soon and will have a new director before July 1.

“We appreciate the thorough job done by the search committee,” said Sullivan. “We had some great candidates and the two forwarded to us by the search committee were both strong candidates.”