Briarcliff Manor Public Library

Briarcliff Manor Public Library
A single-story Tudor Revival-style library
Library and community center from Library Road
Established 1914[1](p61)
Location Briarcliff Manor, New York
Collection
Size 30,700[2]
Access and use
Circulation 101,599[2]
Population served 7,696[2]
Other information
Director Melinda Greenblatt[2]
Staff  2 3⁄4 full-time; 8 part-time[3]
Website

Official website

Location of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library
Location of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library
Location of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library
Coordinates 41°08′48″N 73°49′28″W / 41.1466°N 73.8244°W / 41.1466; -73.8244Coordinates: 41°08′48″N 73°49′28″W / 41.1466°N 73.8244°W / 41.1466; -73.8244

The Briarcliff Manor Public Library is the public library serving Briarcliff Manor, New York. Located on the edge of the Walter W. Law Memorial Park on Library Road, it is a member of Westchester Library System. It is staffed by a director and eleven employees, including reference and youth librarians, and is governed by a seven-member board, with a liaison to the village board. The library offers computer classes, book discussion groups, young adult programs, a children's room and a local history collection. The library also houses the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society and offices for the Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department. Adjoining the library is the village's former train station, which housed the library from 1959 to 2009, and was renovated and reopened as the William J. Vescio Community Center on May 30, 2016.

The library was founded in 1914 in the Briarcliff Community Center. From the building's destruction in 1929 and over the next thirty years, the library was without a permanent location, and was moved between sites including public school buildings and the village recreation center. In 1959, the library purchased the former Briarcliff Manor station of the New York and Putnam Railroad. After renovations in the 1980s and 90s, a significant expansion was funded and completed in the late 2000s, where the library is housed today. In 1981, the trackbed which ran alongside the building became part of a 48-mile-long (77-kilometre) rail trail, consisting of the South County, North County, and Putnam County Trailways. The biking, running, and walking trail stretches from the Bronx north to Brewster.

History

Historical library locations
Opening of a three-story school building
A shingled two-story building and driveway
The 1910 Briarcliff Community Center (top); the former village recreation center (middle); the 1906 train station (bottom)

The Briarcliff Manor Free Library was founded by Edward S. Arnold in 1914 at the Briarcliff Community Center (also referred to as "the Club"). The building was built as a public school in 1898 at the current Pleasantville Road southbound ramp to NY Route 9A.[1](p61) World War I slowed its expansion, though progress resumed in 1921. This was achieved largely due to the efforts of Amy Bookwalter, at a time when the Library Board consisted entirely of women. On March 8–13 of that year, the Briarcliff Free Library was officially opened,[4] and on September 22, 1921, the library was registered with the New York State library system.[1](p61)

On September 1, 1922, the Club's library funds were transferred to the Library Committee, and the village government donated US$500 ($7,100 today)[8] to the library in 1924. At that time, it had 1,900 volumes, which became 23,000 by 1926, around 6,000 in 1939, and by 1952, 8,000 volumes.[1](p62) In 1988, the library's collections had grown to 25,000.[5](p151)

In its early years, the Briarcliff library received donations from the village Sunday school and the Club.[4] In July 1928, the library moved from the community club building (which was sold to the Westchester Parkway Commission[nb 1]) to the tower room of the former Briarcliff Farms office building, the present branch of the International Union of Operating Engineers. On March 18, 1930, after invitation from the Briarcliff Board of Education, the library was relocated again. It moved to a large room on the main floor of Briarcliff's high school extension to its Law Park grade school building.[4] In August 1949, the school required more classroom space; the village board then provided two rooms on the second floor of its recreation building on Old Route 100 near the village downtown. On March 18, 1952, the New York State Board of Regents granted the library a provisional charter;[nb 2] that year its registration numbered 503.[1](p62) Also in 1952, the village semicentennial history book notes the need for a permanent home for the library.[1](p88)

Around 1939, the library received an efficiency rating of 93 percent from the Library Division of the New York State Education Department.[4] In 1944, the library obtained its highest efficiency rating, 98.3 percent, from the Library Extension Division of the University of the State of New York.[1](p62) The 1952 appropriation for the library was $1,800 ($16,100 today)[8]; its expenditures were $1,875.86 ($17,100 today)[8] in 1951.[1](p61)

On January 20, 1959, the library moved to its fifth location, the former Briarcliff Manor station on the New York City & Northern Railroad (later the New York and Putnam Railroad).[10] The station was built in 1906 by village founder Walter W. Law in the Tudor style,[10](p35) as a replacement for a smaller station, moved to nearby Millwood.[5](pp39, 76) The railroad's Putnam Division was discontinued in 1958,[11] freeing up use of the building for the library. The library spent $12,500 ($101,600 today)[8] to purchase the building and an additional $6,500 ($52,900 today)[8] for renovations; it raised $14,000 ($113,800 today)[8] from village residents, with the rest funded by the Library Board. In 1959, the library received its absolute charter, and received a charter in 1964 to become a public library: the Briarcliff Manor Public Library.[12] In the 1980s and 90s, videocassettes were increasing in popularity; The New York Times reported in 1990 that the library had experienced a significant increase in its circulation, with over 5,435 circulated in that year, compared to 2,864 in 1989.[13] In 1985, the library and the Briarcliff Lodge were among 60 sites given historical markers by Westchester County Tricentennial Commission.[14]

The library, which had 3,200 square feet (300 m2), was determined to be too small; other significant problems included no wireless capacity and poor shelving and lighting.[15] In 1980, a large interior renovation took place. Former mayor Chester L. Fisher and his wife led a $50,000 ($143,800 today)[8] fundraising effort,[16] and collected $50,072.[17] Construction started in March 1980 and included interior painting, new shelves, cabinets, and carpeting for the main room, a mezzanine on the south side, a relocated checkout desk and remodeled children's room, and a vestibule in the main entrance designed to match the original building.[16][17][18] In 1981 the first section of the Putnam Division trackbed was repurposed for a trailway; the section ran from the library south to New York Route 117. The 48-mile biking, running, and walking trail was completed in 2014, and consists of the South County, North County, and Putnam County Trailways. It stretches from Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx north to Brewster.[19][20]In 1995 village residents held a referendum for a new library of 10,600 square feet (980 m2); it failed by 13 votes, from the 871 cast. From 1997 to 1999, major renovations took place both on the building's interior and exterior. In the early 2000s, plans began for an expansion. A modular building was set up in 2004 as the children's room. In 2006, a $4 million bond resolution ($4.7 million today)[8] was passed for a two-story, 6,600-square-foot (610-square-metre) addition, which began construction in summer 2007 and opened February 19, 2009.[3][12] The original station building was renovated to become a village community center,[21] which was in development since as late as 2013[21] and held a cost of $1.8 million.[22] Mayor Lori Sullivan and former mayor William J. Vescio presided[23] over the center's opening and dedication to Vescio on May 30, 2016.[24][nb 3]

Location and architecture

Side of the train station; sign reading "Briarcliff Manor"
The train station's north facade (1952); demolished in 2007

The Briarcliff Manor Public Library is located on the eastern edge of the Walter W. Law Memorial Park on Library Road,[2] and has a large parking lot accessible from Library Road.[3](p70)

The current structure consists of the 1906 former train station on the south end and an extension completed in 2009 on the north side. The exterior was designed in the Tudor Revival style,[10](p35) although The New York Times observed the building as "pseudo-medieval".[26] When active as a train station, the timbering was painted a shade of green used for other New York Central stations.[27] The 2007 addition has the same half-timber and stucco exterior of the original building.[28]

The station's interior was decorated with flowers, oriental rugs on the terrazzo floor, and tables and chairs in the Mission style.[10](p35)[27] During the library's occupation from 1959 to 2009, the building housed a main reading room, children's room, and vestibule and second-story balcony (both added in 1980). The community center opening in 2016 in the same space holds a meeting room and kitchen on the first floor and an oculus opening on the full-length second floor, which is intended for presentations, exhibits, reading, studying, and computer usage.[29] The community center also has a backup generator for use as an emergency broadcast and warming and cooling center.[23] It can hold 80 on its first floor and 110 on its second, and has movable furniture and a large television on each floor to accommodate a variety of programming.[30]

Operations

A small beige library reading room
Second-floor program room in the 2007 library extension

The Briarcliff library is open seven days per week, except in August when it is closed each Sunday.[31] The library hosts four computer workstations and eight laptops, and has its own WiFi network.[32] It is a member of the Westchester Library System.[3](p69) The Friends of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library is an organization through which community members may support the library.[33]

The library's director oversees two and three-quarters full-time and eight part-time employees, including reference and youth librarians. It is governed by a seven-member board, with a liaison to the village board. Services include computer classes, book discussion groups, young adult programs, a children's room and a local history collection. Library spending constitutes about four percent of the village budget.[3]

Organizations

A rock wall and trees behind a large signpost
The library houses the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society and the Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department

Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society

The Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society (BMSHS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to local preservation, research, and education. In March 1974, after the village mayor appointed twelve people for a 75th anniversary committee, the committee began by forming the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society; it received its provisional charter around that time.[34] The historical society published an updated village history (A Village Between Two Rivers: Briarcliff Manor) in 1977, marking the 75th anniversary of the village. The organization has since published several books, including a comprehensive history of the village. The publication, The Changing Landscape, a History of Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough, was written by Mary Cheever, wife of novelist John Cheever.[35] In 2016, the society and village government created and dedicated a memorial to Medal of Honor recipient John Koelsch at Law Memorial Park.[36][37]

The historical society was initially located at the since-demolished Briarcliff Middle School building; it later moved to the second floor of a realty building on Pleasantville Road, and moved back to the school building after it was leased by Pace University.[5](p195) On March 21, 2010, the BMSHS was given a permanent location at the Eileen O'Connor Weber Historical Center, established as part of the library's expansion finished in 2009.[35] The current president, Karen Smith, heads a board of trustees, members of which have three-year terms with a required year recess between terms.[38]

Members of the historical society joined the nine-member Centennial Committee in 2002 to organize events for Briarcliff Manor's centennial.[39] The Centennial Committee and BMSHS helped organize several events for the village's 2002 centennial celebration, including the Centennial Variety Show at the Briarcliff High School auditorium in a sold-out two-night run on April 26–27, 2002.[40] The two-act show consisted of interpretations of village life by village organizations and a revue of Briarcliff Manor history in skits and songs.[39] Other society-sponsored events have included tours of homes and churches, bus tours, Hudson River cruises on historic boats such as the M/V Commander (built in 1917 and listed on the national and state registers of historic places), dances, antique-car exhibits, day trips to historic points of interest, art exhibits and events with authors and elected officials.[35]

Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department

The library houses the village recreation department, which has four staff and a six-member advisory committee, and provides recreation programming for the village.[41] The department has operated the recreation center on Macy Road since 1980, and also runs a youth center on Van Lu Van Road.[42]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The community club building burned down shortly after its sale, in 1929.[1](p61)
  2. ↑ The New York State Education Department grants provisional and absolute charters to legally establish educational corporations including schools, libraries, historical societies, and museums.[9]
  3. ↑ Vescio, a village resident since about 1973, served the village board for 29 years, including eleven as trustee and ten as mayor. Vescio oversaw construction of the library and community center, and of a new water supply system for the village.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Our Village: Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. 1902 to 1952. Historical Committee of the Semi–Centennial. 1952. OCLC 24569093.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Briarcliff Manor Public Library". Libraries.org. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Comprehensive Plan – Village of Briarcliff Manor" (PDF). Village of Briarcliff Manor. November 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Pattison, Robert (1939). A History of Briarcliff Manor. William Rayburn. OCLC 39333547.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Cheever, Mary (1990). The Changing Landscape: A History of Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough. West Kennebunk, Maine: Phoenix Publishing. ISBN 0-914659-49-9. LCCN 90045613. OCLC 22274920. OL 1884671M.
  6. ↑ Bruttell, Nathan (June 26, 2012). "Ossining Librarians Leave Lasting Legacy". Ossining Daily Voice. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ "New Briarcliff Library Director Knows Her P's and Q's". The Gazette. April 17–23, 1997.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Education Corporations". New York State Education Department. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Yasinsac, Robert (2004). Images of America: Briarcliff Lodge. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3620-0. LCCN 2004104493. OCLC 57480785. OL 3314243M.
  11. ↑ Folsom, Merrill (May 30, 1958). "The Wheels of 'Old Put' Click Out a Sad Accompaniment to Riders' 'Auld Lang Syne'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  12. 1 2 "About the Library – Library History". Briarcliff Manor Public Library. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  13. ↑ Buckvar, Felice (December 16, 1990). "Libraries Say Call For Videos Is Growing". The New York Times. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Westchester Sites to Receive Historical Markers". Ossining Citizen Register. Gannett Westchester Newspapers. March 28, 1985.
  15. ↑ Brenner, Elsa (June 5, 2005). "Communities; Library Gets a Choice: Grow or Shut Down". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  16. 1 2 "Manor Residents Celebrate Public Library Renovation (with photographs)". Ossining Citizen Register. Gannett Westchester Newspapers. May 20, 1981.
  17. 1 2 Roseblum, Elise (April 25, 1980). "Library Stays Open through Renovations". Ossining Citizen Register. Gannett Westchester Newspapers.
  18. ↑ "Manor Closing Youth Library". Ossining Citizen Register. Gannett Westchester Newspapers. February 3, 1980.
  19. ↑ "Astorino Joined by three Former County Execs at Completed Trailway". Westchester County. April 30, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  20. ↑ Valenti, Ken (August 28, 2014). "Bike trails' last gap between Bronx and Putnam to be filled". The Journal News. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  21. 1 2 Moorhead-Lins, Parry (July 27, 2013). "The New Briarcliff Manor Community Center". River Journal. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  22. ↑ Bennett, Kate (October 16, 2015). "Coming to a Village Near You ... Briarcliff's Projects Looking Good". River Journal. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  23. 1 2 "Briarcliff Dedicates New Community Center". The Gazette. 33 (22). Gary J. Cahill. June 2–8, 2016. p. 3.
  24. ↑ "Community Center Dedication Tops Village Manager's Report". Briarcliff Daily Voice. May 9, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Briarcliff Bids Farewell to Mayor William Vescio". River Journal. February 20, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  26. ↑ Flanagan, Sue Morris (September 21, 1986). "When a Railroad Station's the Final Stop". The New York Times.
  27. 1 2 "Old Station House is Manor Library". Ossining Citizen Register. Gannett Westchester Newspapers. August 14, 1970.
  28. ↑ Brenner, Elsa (September 5, 2008). "Library's Size Will More Than Triple". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
  29. ↑ Fox, Sandra Diamond (December 1, 2015). "Briarcliff Community Center At Law Memorial Park Nears Completion". Briarcliff Daily Voice. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
  30. ↑ Bonvento, Robert (August 5, 2016). "In Briarcliff Manor…A Complete Community Center". River Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  31. ↑ Kaplan, Amy B.G. "Library Hours". Briarcliff Manor Public Library. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  32. ↑ Mahoney, Geraldine. "Library Expansion Information". Briarcliff Manor Public Library. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Our Mission". Friends of Briarcliff Manor Public Library, Inc. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  34. ↑ Renner, Tom (December 18, 2013). "Briarcliff Women Bring Historical Society Up To Date". Briarcliff Daily Voice. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  35. 1 2 3 "Our History: a look back through four decades". Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Briarcliff Honors 'Local Hero'". The Gazette. 33 (46). Gary J. Cahill. November 17–23, 2016. pp. 1, 6.
  37. ↑ Reif, Carol (November 7, 2016). "Briarcliff Honors Fallen Korean War Hero". Briarcliff Daily Voice. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Briarcliff-Scarborough Historical Society". The Gazette. March 26, 2015. p. 7. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  39. 1 2 Briarcliff Manor: The First 100 Years – The Centennial Variety Show. Village of Briarcliff Manor. 2002.
  40. ↑ Briarcliff Manor Centennial Committee (2002). The Briarcliff Manor Family Album: Celebrating a Century. Cornwall, New York: Village of Briarcliff Manor.
  41. ↑ Stefko, Joseph; Town and Village of Ossining, New York (April 2012). "Municipal Services & Financial Overview: Town and Village of Ossining, NY" (PDF). Center for Governmental Research. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  42. ↑ "Recreation Facilities & Parks". Village of Briarcliff Manor. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
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