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117-505: The Ossining Public Library ( OPL ) is a public library in serving the village of Ossining , New York. The library serves Ossining's school district, including the town of Ossining and neighboring areas. The library was created in the 1880s at the village's Park School. It was first chartered as the Sing Sing Public Library in 1893. Its first permanent location was a Carnegie library on Croton Avenue, replaced by

234-582: A board to serve the public interest; (3) they are open to all, and every community member can access the collection; (4) they are entirely voluntary, no one is ever forced to use the services provided; and (5) they provide library and information services without charge. Public libraries exist in many countries across the world and are often considered an essential part of having an educated and literate population. Public libraries are distinct from research libraries , school libraries , academic libraries in other states and other special libraries . Their mandate

351-918: A children's room and a local history collection. The library building also houses the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, the Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department, and the William J. Vescio Community Center. The library was founded in 1914 in the Briarcliff Community Center. Around 1921, the library was established as the Briarcliff Free Library, an association library within the New York State library system. From

468-616: A children's room, and a local history collection. Library spending constitutes about four percent of the village budget. Community members support the library through the Friends of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library organization. The organization's volunteers have helped shelve, repair, and check out books, provided art shows, sponsored adult discussion groups, and participated in all of the library's fundraising campaigns. The Briarcliff Manor Public Library

585-466: A clientele of some fifty thousand." The mid-to-late 18th century saw a virtual epidemic of feminine reading as novels became more and more popular. Novels, while frowned upon in society, were extremely popular. In England, there were many who lamented at the "villainous profane and obscene books", and the opposition to the circulating library, on moral grounds, persisted well into the 19th century. Still, many establishments must have circulated many times

702-605: A common pattern. Membership was restricted to the proprietors or shareholders, and ranged from a dozen or two to between four and five hundred. The entrance fee, i.e. the purchase price of a share, was in early days usually a guinea, but rose sharply as the century advanced, often reaching four or five guineas during the French wars; the annual subscription, during the same period, rose from about six shillings to ten shillings or more. The book-stock was, by modern standards, small (Liverpool, with over 8,000 volumes in 1801, seems to have been

819-428: A completely new way of reading. Reading was no longer simply an academic pursuit or an attempt to gain spiritual guidance . Reading became a social activity. Many circulating libraries were attached to the shops of milliners or drapers. They served as much for social gossip and the meeting of friends as coffee shops do today. Another factor in the growth of subscription libraries was the increasing cost of books. In

936-488: 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 . In 2016, the society and village government created and dedicated a memorial to Medal of Honor recipient John Koelsch at Law Memorial Park. The historical society was initially located at the Law Park school building; it later moved to

1053-728: A fully tax-supported public library and thus changed its name from the Briarcliff Free Library to the Briarcliff Manor Public Library. In 1963, Briarcliff resident and artist Myril Adler proposed a series of exhibits of graphic art ; the first showing was in October of that year and recurred each month thereafter, each with Sunday opening receptions. Exhibitors included Adler, Michael Ponce de Leon , Seong Moy , Rodolfo Abularach , Fritz Eichenberg , Jacob Landau , George Earl Ortman , Minna Citron , and Alfredo Da Silva . Exhibited works included etchings and engravings, woodcuts, cellocuts, lithographs , collage intaglios , and serigraphs . As

1170-406: A gently-sloping portico . When active as a train station, the timbering was painted a shade of green used for other New York Central stations. When the library moved in, it spent $ 1,000 to repaint and clean the outside timbers and stucco. The original building's interior initially had dark wood panels and was decorated with flowers, oriental rugs on the terrazzo floor, and tables and chairs in

1287-470: A granite countertop. It was sold to the library by craftsman and village resident Leonard Rerek at a significant discount. The first floor also includes a teen center with computers and a breakout room, as well as a children's room with its own breakout room. The second floor holds the adult fiction, non-fiction, and reference collections, as well as four computers, library offices, and a partitionable program room seating up to 80 people. The extension's interior

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1404-462: A greater number of patrons, were able to accumulate greater numbers of books. The United Public Library was said to have a collection of some 52,000 volumes – twice as many as any private-subscription library in the country at that period. These libraries, since they functioned as a business, also lent books to non-subscribers on a per-book system. Despite the existence of these subscription libraries, they were only accessible to those who could afford

1521-464: A large interior renovation took place; former mayor Chester L. Fisher and his wife led a fundraising effort, raising $ 50,072 ($ 185,200 today). 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

1638-399: A large television on each floor to accommodate a variety of programming. The building's extension has the same half-timber and stucco exterior as the original structure, also complementing the Law Park pavilion to form one complex. The extension houses an elevator between the basement and two above-ground floors. The first floor has a circulation desk of cherry- and caramel-stained wood with

1755-590: A larger and more centrally-located space than the Briarcliff Farms building. On March 18, 1930, after invitation from the Briarcliff school district 's Board of Education, the library was relocated again. It moved to a large room on the main floor of Briarcliff High School 's extension to its Law Park school building. In August 1949, the school required more classroom space, so the Board of Education asked

1872-410: A later development, which were made possible by the establishment of County Councils in 1888. They normally have a large central library in a major town with smaller branch libraries in other towns and a mobile library service covering rural areas. A new Public Libraries Act was passed in 1964. Local authorities were to provide a "comprehensive and efficient" library service. Public libraries built in

1989-405: 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. The community center also has a backup generator for use as an emergency broadcast and a warming and cooling center . It can hold 80 people on its first floor and 110 on its second, and has movable furniture and

2106-595: A modern building in 1968, and again replaced with the current facility in 2007. The library began as a collection of 700 books in the superintendent's office at Park School in the 1880s. It was first chartered in 1893 as the Sing Sing Public Library. It was renamed the Ossining Public Library in 1901. In 1903, the library moved to the Twiggar Building on Main Street, and a few years later to

2223-453: A place for other forms of commercial activity, which may or may not be related to print. This was necessary because the circulating libraries did not generate enough funds through subscription fees collected from its borrowers. As a commerce venture, it was important to consider the contributing factors such as other goods or services available to the subscribers. The Malatestiana Library ( Italian : Biblioteca Malatestiana ), also known as

2340-481: A population of 10,000 or more to raise a ½d for the establishment of museums". This became the Museums Act 1845 . The advocacy of Ewart and Brotherton then succeeded in having a select committee set up to consider public library provision. The Report argued that the provision of public libraries would steer people towards temperate and moderate habits. With a view to maximising the potential of current facilities,

2457-415: A result of these exhibits, the library began a collection of prints donated by the exhibiting artists. In the library's small space, Adler displayed prints between shelves and in the youth and children's reading rooms. The library, which was 3,200 square feet (300 m ), was too small for readers and events; other significant problems included no wireless capacity and poor shelving and lighting. In 1980,

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2574-471: A significant expansion was completed in 2009, adding the section in which the library is housed today. In 2016, the village's community center opened in the original portion of the building. A public library was founded by Edward S. Arnold in 1914 within the Briarcliff Community Center (also referred to as "the Club"). The Community Center's building had been built as a Briarcliff Manor public school in 1898. In

2691-418: A simple majority. It also allowed neighbouring parishes to combine with an existing or potential library authority. Despite the rise in the level of tax public libraries could levy, it was still very difficult for boroughs to raise enough capital to fund new libraries. The growth of the public library movement in the wake of the 1850 Act relied heavily on the donations of philanthropists. County libraries were

2808-585: A supporter of the temperance movement , was able to secure the Chair of the select committee which would examine "the extent, causes, and consequences of the prevailing vice of intoxication among the labouring classes of the United Kingdom" and propose solutions. Francis Place , a campaigner for the working class, agreed that "the establishment of parish libraries and district reading rooms, and popular lectures on subjects both entertaining and instructive to

2925-465: A variety of materials including the increasingly popular novels . Although the circulating libraries filled an important role in society, members of the middle and upper classes often looked down upon these libraries that regularly sold material from their collections and provided materials that were less sophisticated. Circulating libraries also charged a subscription fee . However, these fees were set to entice their patrons, providing subscriptions on

3042-690: A weekly English Conversation Group, English as a Second Language classes twice weekly, a Spanish film series, a multicultural collection, and performances and celebrations during National Hispanic Heritage Month . The library's collections include several non-traditional circulating items: nature observation kits, cake pans, fishing poles, and Wii games. The library also offers free admission to local and regional museums and nature centers. Public library There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries: (1) they are generally supported by taxes (usually local, though any level of government can and may contribute); (2) they are governed by

3159-591: A yearly, quarterly or monthly basis, without expecting the subscribers to purchase a share in the circulating library. This helped patrons who could not afford to buy books, to be able to borrow books to read, and then return. This also created a more popular demand, as book fees were growing, and more books were being copied. Circulating libraries were very popular; the first one was located in 1725, in Edinburgh, Scotland , by Allan Ramsay . Circulating libraries were not exclusively lending institutions and often provided

3276-793: Is a member of the Westchester Library System , the 38-member library system for Westchester County. Around 1940, the library was integrated with the Union Catalog of the Westchester Library Association, and it became one of the founding 31 members of the Westchester Library System in 1958. The Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society (BMSHS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization committed to local preservation, research, and education. In March 1974, after

3393-642: Is chartered as a Municipal Public Library, serving residents of the village of Briarcliff Manor. The western portion of the village, in the Ossining Union Free School District, is also served by the Ossining Public Library . The Ossining library, as a School District Public Library, includes the entire school district as its service area. The Briarcliff library is open seven days per week, except in August when it

3510-451: Is closed each Sunday. The library hosts four computer workstations and eight laptops, and has its own WiFi network. There are eleven staff members, including reference and youth librarians. The library employs an equivalent of 5.21 full-time employees, as most staff work part-time. The library is governed by a ten-member board, with a liaison to the village board. Services include computer classes, book discussion groups, young adult programs,

3627-526: Is the public library serving the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York , and is located on the edge of the Walter W. Law Memorial Park. The library is a founding member of the Westchester Library System . It is staffed by a director and eleven employees, including reference and youth librarians, and is governed by a ten-member board, with a liaison to the village board of trustees. The library offers computer classes, book discussion groups, young adult programs,

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3744-419: Is to serve the general public's information needs rather than the needs of a particular school, institution, or research population. Public libraries also provide free services such as preschool story times to encourage early literacy among children. They also provide a quiet study and learning areas for students and professionals and foster the formation of book clubs to encourage the appreciation of literature by

3861-468: 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, film and art exhibits and events with authors and elected officials. The library houses the village's recreation department, which has four employees and a six-member advisory committee, and provides recreation programming for

3978-455: The Mission style . In 1959, when the library moved in, local architect and village resident William Anders Sharman planned the building's $ 2,000 renovation; he later became the first president of the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society. The station's circular ticket office was replaced by the librarian's desk, bookshelves replaced station furniture, and the baggage room became

4095-766: The earliest form of writing – the clay tablets in cuneiform script discovered in temple rooms in Sumer , some dating back to 2600 BC. They appeared five thousand years ago in Southwest Asia's Fertile Crescent , an area that ran from Mesopotamia to the Nile in Africa. Known as the cradle of civilization, the Fertile Crescent was likewise the birthplace of writing, sometime before 3000 BC. (Murray, Stuart A.P.) These first libraries, which mainly consisted of

4212-704: The 1830s, at the height of the Chartist movement, there was a general tendency towards reformism in the United Kingdom. The middle classes were concerned that the workers' free time was not being well-spent. This was prompted more by Victorian middle class paternalism than by demand from the lower social orders. Campaigners felt that encouraging the lower classes to spend their free time on morally uplifting activities, such as reading, would promote greater social good. Salford Museum and Art Gallery first opened in November 1850 as "The Royal Museum & Public Library", as

4329-405: The 18th century to today; as the country grew more populous and wealthier, factors such as a push for education and desire to share knowledge led to broad public support for free libraries. In addition, money donations by private philanthropists provided the seed capital to get many libraries started. In some instances, collectors donated large book collections. The first modern public library in

4446-559: The 1960s were characterized by modernism. The modern public library grew at a great pace at the end of the 19th century especially in the English-speaking world . Philanthropists and businessmen, including John Passmore Edwards , Henry Tate and Andrew Carnegie , helped to fund the establishment of large numbers of public libraries for the edification of the masses. Public libraries in North America developed from

4563-402: The 205-seat Camille Budarz Theater, an art gallery, and Westchester County's first radio frequency (RFID) circulation system. 1,000 visitors attended on the opening day, which include guided tours and a piano performance by Ossining resident Camille Antoinette Budarz. The theater's Steinway piano was once hers. In 2018, for the library's 125th anniversary, a time capsule was created and buried on

4680-524: The Church of England or other gentlemen or persons of letters", but it was limited to just 422 volumes of mostly ecclesiastical and legal works. In Germany, there was another occurrence of an accessible public library. The Ducal Library at Wolfenbüttel was open "every weekday morning and afternoon" and loaned its books to the public. Between 1714 and 1799, the library loaned 31,485 books to 1,648 different users. These types of public libraries, much closer to

4797-665: The Eastern Mediterranean (see Library of Alexandria § In antiquity ). Historian Yahya of Antioch (d. 1066) reported that the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ( r.  996–1021 ) financed and established libraries open to the public, where anyone, even the simple non-specialists, could choose whatever books they wanted and have them copied by public scribes, free of charge. However, as with many of his other decisions, Al-Hakim later ordered this policy to be reversed. In Cesena, Italy,

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4914-486: The French philologist and churchman, operated an early form of a public library in the town of Saulieu from 1737 to 1750. He wished to make culture and learning accessible to all people. The Załuski Library ( Polish : Biblioteka Załuskich , Latin : Bibliotheca Zalusciana ) was built in Warsaw 1747–1795 by Józef Andrzej Załuski and his brother, Andrzej Stanisław Załuski , both Roman Catholic bishops. The library

5031-676: The Malatesta Novello Library, is a public library dating from 1452 in Cesena , Emilia-Romagna ( Italy ). It was the first European civic library , i.e. belonging to the Commune and open to everybody. It was commissioned by the Lord of Cesena, Malatesta Novello . The works were directed by Matteo Nuti of Fano (a scholar of Leon Battista Alberti ) and lasted from 1447 to 1452. The first libraries consisted of archives of

5148-539: The Ossining Union Free School District. It serves areas of the town of Ossining, Chappaqua, Yorktown, and Briarcliff Manor, with overlapping service in parts of the town of Yorktown (also served by the John C. Hart Memorial Library) and village of Briarcliff Manor (also served by the Briarcliff Manor Public Library ). Given Ossining's large Hispanic population, the library has services including

5265-555: The Southern Hemisphere (3 vols) which was borrowed on 201 occasions. The records also show that in 1796, membership had risen by 1/3 to 198 subscribers (of whom 5 were women) and the titles increased five-fold to 4,987. This mirrors the increase in reading interests. A patron list from the Bath Municipal Library shows that from 1793 to 1799, the library held a stable 30% of their patrons as female. It

5382-622: The YWCA. The library was looking to expand, and so a letter was written to philanthropist Andrew Carnegie , noted for his funding of public library buildings. Carnegie funded the new library, a Carnegie library , on Croton Avenue. The building was of brick, with arched windows and large heavy wooden doors at the entrance. Desiring further expansion, the Carnegie building was torn down in 1967, and its replacement opened in September 1968. This library

5499-427: The area was busy with traffic, due to its location at the intersection of two highways. It was also far from the village's public school buildings and had no sidewalks nearby, making it poorly-accessible and hazardous for children to visit. One referendum proposal was to build a $ 50,000 library on the site of a proposed addition to Todd Elementary School. Prior to the referendum, at a school district meeting, concern

5616-523: The association library became a public library and adopted its current name. 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 . After library renovations in the 1980s and 1990s,

5733-399: The base of many academic and public library collections of today. The establishment of circulating libraries in the 18th century by booksellers and publishers provided a means of gaining profit and creating social centers within the community. The circulating libraries not only provided a place to sell books, but also a place to lend books for a price. These circulating libraries provided

5850-413: The building for the library. With closer proximity to schools, more parking, and double the availability of shelf space, the village purchased the former station for $ 12,500 ($ 130,700 today) and leased the building and its acre of land to the library. The library required $ 20,500 ($ 214,300 today) for purchasing and renovating the building; it raised $ 14,000 ($ 146,300 today) from village residents, with

5967-462: 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 , which had been ordered and funded by Briarcliff Manor founder Walter Law in 1906. In 1964,

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6084-409: The children's section. Former library president Theodore R. Malsin dedicated the children's room in memory of his son Donald. From 1959 until 2009, the building housed a main reading room and children's room; a vestibule and second-story balcony were added in 1980. The community center, opening in 2016 in the same space, was designed by architectural firm Peter F. Gaito & Associates. It holds

6201-645: The clergy and residents of the surrounding neighborhood. Some scholars consider this library an "ancestor" to public libraries since its patrons did not need to belong to an existing organization like a church or college to use it. However, all the books in the library were chained to stalls and unavailable to borrow, hence its name: the Francis Trigge Chained Library. In the early years of the 17th century, many famous collegiate and town libraries were founded in England. Norwich City library

6318-518: The committee made two significant recommendations. They suggested that the government should issue grants to aid the foundation of libraries and that the Museums Act 1845 should be amended and extended to allow for a tax to be levied for the establishment of public libraries. Objections were raised about the increase in taxation , the potential infringement on private enterprise and the existing library provision such as mechanics' institutes and

6435-435: The community might draw off a number of those who now frequent public houses for the sole enjoyment they afford". Buckingham introduced to Parliament a Public Institution Bill allowing boroughs to charge a tax to set up libraries and museums, the first of its kind. Although this did not become law, it had a major influence on William Ewart MP and Joseph Brotherton MP, who introduced a bill which would "[empower] boroughs with

6552-558: The end of the 18th century and in the first decades of the 19th century, the demand for books and general education made itself felt among social classes generated by the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. The late-18th century saw a rise in subscription libraries intended for the use of tradesmen. In 1797, there was established at Kendal what was known as the Economical Library, "designed principally for

6669-526: The expansion to a back room, to the spacious elegant areas of Hookham's or those at the resorts like Scarborough, and four in a row at Margate. Private-subscription libraries held a greater amount of control over both membership and the types of books in the library. There was almost a complete elimination of cheap fiction in the private societies. Subscription libraries prided themselves on respectability. The highest percentage of subscribers were often landed proprietors, gentry, and old professions. Towards

6786-546: The fear that it would give rise to "unhealthy social agitation". The Bill passed through Parliament as most MPs felt that public libraries would provide facilities for self-improvement through books and reading for all classes, and that the greater levels of education attained by providing public libraries would result in lower crime rates . Under the terms of the Museums Act of 1845 , the municipalities of Warrington and Salford established libraries in their museums. Warrington Municipal Library opened in 1848. Although by

6903-510: The fees and to those with time to read during the daylight. As stated by James Van Horn Melton, "one should not overstate the extent to which lending libraries 'democratized' reading" since "they were probably less important for creating new readers than for enabling those who already read to read more." For many people, these libraries, though more accessible than libraries such as the British Library, were still largely an institution for

7020-490: The finished project held a cost of $ 1.8 million. On May 30, 2016, Mayor Lori Sullivan and former mayor William J. Vescio presided over the center's opening and dedication to Vescio. The Briarcliff Manor Public Library is located on the eastern edge of the Walter W. Law Memorial Park on Library Road, and has a large parking lot accessible from Library Road. The site is near the library's first and third locations and borders

7137-636: The first community-run public library, the Malatestiana Library , was established in 1447, provided both secular and religious texts in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and was fully open to all members of the public. Another early library that allowed access to the public was Kalendars or Kalendaries, a brotherhood of clergy and laity who were attached to the Church of All-Halloween or All Saints in Bristol , England. Records show that in 1464, provision

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7254-579: The first unconditionally free public library in England. The library in Campfield , Manchester was the first library to operate a "free" lending library without subscription in 1852. Norwich lays claim to being the first municipality to adopt the Public Libraries Act 1850 (which allowed any municipal borough with a population of 100,000 or more to introduce a halfpenny rate to establish public libraries—although not to buy books). Norwich

7371-631: The form of novels. The national average start of the 20th century hovered around novels comprising about 20% of the total collection. Novels varied from other types of books in many ways. They were read primarily for enjoyment instead of for study. They did not provide academic knowledge or spiritual guidance; thus, they were read quickly and far fewer times than other books. These were the perfect books for commercial subscription libraries to lend. Since books were read for pure enjoyment rather than for scholarly work, books needed to become both cheaper and smaller. Small duodecimo editions of books were preferred to

7488-562: The former Briarcliff Manor station originally on the New York City & Northern Railroad (later the New York and Putnam Railroad ). The station had been built in 1906 by village founder Walter W. Law in the Tudor Revival style, as a replacement for a smaller station , which was moved to nearby Millwood . In its later operation as a station, the building was rarely used, and only four trains stopped there each day. Due to

7605-403: The large folio editions. Folio editions were read at a desk, while the small duodecimo editions could be easily read like the paperbacks of today. The French journalist Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote that the books were also separated into parts so that readers could rent a section of the book for some hours instead of a full day. This allowed more readers could have access to the same work at

7722-497: The largest), and was accommodated, at the outset, in makeshift premises—very often over a bookshop, with the bookseller acting as librarian and receiving an honorarium for his pains. The Liverpool subscription library was a gentlemen-only library. In 1798, it was renamed the Athenaeum when it was rebuilt with a newsroom and coffeehouse. It had an entrance fee of one guinea and annual subscription of five shillings. An analysis of

7839-442: The last two decades of the century, especially, prices were practically doubled, so that a quarto work cost a guinea , an octavo 10 shillings or 12 shillings, and a duodecimo cost 4 shillings per volume. Price apart, moreover, books were difficult to procure outside London since local booksellers could not afford to carry large stocks. Commercial libraries, since they were usually associated with booksellers and also since they had

7956-465: The library and the Briarcliff Lodge were among 60 sites given historical markers by Westchester County Tricentennial Commission. In 1995, village residents held a referendum for a new $ 1.8 million library of 10,600 square feet (980 m ) to be built behind the village municipal building; it failed by 13 votes, from the 871 cast. A 1996 proposal for a smaller building, costing $ 1.7 million,

8073-433: The library building, established as part of the library's expansion. The current president, Karen Smith, heads a board of trustees, members of which have three-year terms with a required one-year recess between terms. Members of the historical society joined the nine-member Centennial Committee in 2002 to organize events for Briarcliff Manor's centennial. The Centennial Committee and BMSHS helped organize several events for

8190-447: The library grounds, to be opened on the 150th anniversary in 2043. Other celebratory events, including a film series, library history lecture, ice cream social, and genealogy program, were scheduled as part of the celebration. As well, the library was gifted a desk that was the circulation desk of the Carnegie building, now serving as the library's information desk. The 2007 building has four floors and 48,000 square feet (4,500 m). It

8307-444: The library to relocate. The village board then provided the library with two rooms on the second floor of its recreation building near the village downtown on Old Route 100 (then part of NY Route 100 ). From the beginning, the recreation center rooms were too small to hold the library's collection (only holding about 7,000 of its 8,500 books), had insufficient room for tables and chairs, and no space for exhibits or displays. As well,

8424-578: The library's collections had grown to 25,000; its current collections contain 40,000 volumes. In its early years, the library received book donations from the village Sunday school and the club. In July 1928, the library moved from the Community Center building to the tower room of the former Briarcliff Farms office building, currently a branch of the International Union of Operating Engineers . The Community Center building

8541-401: The library's early years, it did not have a librarian or regular library hours. The library was significantly affected by World War I , as all volunteer efforts were refocused to aid the country's war effort . By 1921, the library was described as "practically moribund" though progress resumed in 1921 largely due to the efforts of Amy Bookwalter, who in that year became the first president of

8658-572: The library. Bookwalter was credited with reopening the library and officially establishing it as the Briarcliff Free Library on March 8, 1921. She was largely unassisted in these efforts. On September 1, 1922, the club's library funds were transferred to the Library Committee of the Briarcliff Free Library. The library was registered with the New York state library system on September 22 of that year and an eight-member board of trustees

8775-555: The mid-19th century, England could claim 274 subscription libraries and Scotland, 266, the foundation of the modern public library system in Britain is the Public Libraries Act 1850 . The Act first gave local boroughs the power to establish free public libraries and was the first legislative step toward the creation of an enduring national institution that provides universal free access to information and literature. In

8892-539: The mid-19th century, there were virtually no public libraries in the sense in which we now understand the term, i.e., libraries provided with public funds and freely accessible to all. Only one important library in Britain, namely Chetham's Library in Manchester, was fully and freely accessible to the public. The Chesshyre Library in Halton , Cheshire was founded as a free public library in 1733 for all "divines of

9009-529: The middle and upper classes. In A.D 1820, the State Central Library, Kerala started functioning in Trivandrum , India, which is not only India's first public library but also the first such institution outside of Europe. However, there had come into being a whole network of library provisions on a private or institutional basis. Subscription libraries, both private and commercial, provided

9126-433: The middle to upper classes with a variety of books for moderate fees. Private-subscription libraries functioned in much the same manner as commercial subscription libraries, though they varied in many important ways. One of the most popular versions of the private-subscription library was the "gentlemen only" library. The gentlemen's subscription libraries, sometimes known as proprietary libraries, were nearly all organized on

9243-489: The number of novels as of any other genre. In 1797, Thomas Wilson wrote in The Use of Circulating Libraries : "Consider that for a successful circulating library, the collection must contain 70% fiction". However, the overall percentage of novels mainly depended on the proprietor of the circulating library . While some circulating libraries were almost completely novels, others had less than 10% of their overall collection in

9360-541: The original building. In 1981, the first section of the Putnam Division trackbed was repurposed as a trailway; the section ran from the library south to New York Route 117 . The current 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. In 1985,

9477-424: The pool that was constructed using funds from the sale of the Community Center. The current structure consists of the 1.5-story former train station on the south end and the two-story extension on the north side. The original building's exterior was designed in an English Tudor Revival style, which The New York Times observed as "pseudo-medieval". It features multiple gables , arcs of red-painted wood, and

9594-484: The present-day concept of the public library, were extremely rare as most libraries remained difficult to access. The increase in secular literature at this time encouraged the spread of lending libraries, especially commercial subscription libraries . Commercial subscription libraries began when booksellers began renting out extra copies of books in the mid-18th century. Steven Fischer estimates that in 1790, there were "about six hundred rental and lending libraries, with

9711-463: The public library into the form that it is today. Public access to books is not new. Romans made scrolls in dry rooms available to patrons of the baths, and tried with some success to establish libraries within the empire . Public libraries existed in the Roman Empire by the 1st century BC. In the middle of the 19th century, the push for truly public libraries, paid for by taxes and run by

9828-464: The public. In 1790, The Public Library Act would not be passed for another sixty-seven years. Even though the British Museum existed at this time and contained over 50,000 books, the national library was not open to the public or even to most of the population. Access to the museum depended on passes, for which there was sometimes a waiting period of three to four weeks. Moreover, the library

9945-608: The railroad's tracks ending in the Bronx and requiring a transfer to continue on to Manhattan, many Briarcliff Manor residents would drive to Pleasantville or Scarborough, which had stations along lines ending in Manhattan, and more trains ran along those lines. The passenger railroad, then known as the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad , discontinued service in 1958, freeing up use of

10062-410: The records of commercial transactions or inventories, mark the end of prehistory and the start of history . Things were very similar in the government and temple records on papyrus of Ancient Egypt . The earliest discovered private archives were kept at Ugarit ; besides correspondence and inventories, texts of myths may have been standardized practice-texts for teaching new scribes. Persia at

10179-402: The registers for the first twelve years provides glimpses of middle-class reading habits in a mercantile community at this period. The largest and most popular sections of the library were History, Antiquities, and Geography, with 283 titles and 6,121 borrowings, and Belles Lettres, with 238 titles and 3,313 borrowings. The most popular single work was John Hawkesworth's Account of Voyages ... in

10296-422: The remainder funded by the village board. On April 19, 1959, the refurbished building was dedicated and the village board named the street that led to the library Library Road. With its own space, the library increased its collection, hired more staff, and doubled its operating hours. Also in 1959, the library received its absolute charter , and transferred the charter in 1964 from a free library association to

10413-463: The same time, making it more profitable for the circulating libraries. Much like paperbacks of today, many of the novels in circulating libraries were unbound. At this period of time, many people chose to bind their books in leather. Many circulating libraries skipped this process. Circulating libraries were not in the business of preserving books; their owners wanted to lend books as many times as they possibly could. Circulating libraries have ushered in

10530-564: The second floor of a realty building on Pleasantville Road, and then moved back to the school building after the building was leased by Pace University , occupying that space for eight years. In September 1982, the society moved to the Weber-Tufts building at 1123 Pleasantville Road. On March 21, 2010, the BMSHS was given a permanent location at the Eileen O'Connor Weber Historical Center in

10647-474: The state gained force. Matthew Battles states that: It was in these years of class conflict and economic terror that the public library movement swept through Britain, as the nation's progressive elite recognized that the light of cultural and intellectual energy was lacking in the lives of commoners. Public libraries were often started with a donation , or were bequeathed to parishes , churches, schools or towns. These social and institutional libraries formed

10764-522: The steps at the Metropolitan Museum of Art . The library uses geothermal energy for heating and cooling. The lower level has a cafe, art gallery, and theater; the first floor has the circulation desk, media section, multicultural collection, and children's room. The second floor has the reference and nonfiction collections and the teen room; the mezzanine level at the top has the fiction collection. The main reading room of Ossining's library

10881-577: The time of the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC) was home to some outstanding libraries that were serving two main functions: keeping the records of administrative documents (e.g., transactions, governmental orders, and budget allocation within and between the Satrapies and the central ruling State) and collection of resources on different sets of principles e.g. medical science, astronomy, history, geometry and philosophy. A public library

10998-399: The two-story 6,600-square-foot (610-square-metre) addition began in summer 2007 and was completed on February 19, 2009. The Club at Briarcliff Manor pledged 2.25 million for the renovation and sponsored its opening celebration on March 8, 2009. The original station building was renovated to become a village community center in 2016. The plans were in development since as early as 2013 and

11115-540: The use and instruction of the working classes." There was also the Artizans' library established at Birmingham in 1799. The entrance fee was 3 shillings, and the subscription was 1 shilling 6 pence per quarter. This was a library of general literature. Novels, at first excluded, were afterwards admitted on condition that they did not account for more than one-tenth of the annual income. In 1835, and against government opposition, James Silk Buckingham , MP for Sheffield and

11232-444: The village mayor appointed twelve people for a 75th anniversary committee, the committee began by forming the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society, which received its provisional charter around that time. 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

11349-636: The village's 2002 centennial celebration, including the Briarcliff Centennial Variety Show held at the Briarcliff High School auditorium in a sold-out two-night run on April 26–27, 2002. The two-act show consisted of interpretations of village life by village organizations and a revue of Briarcliff Manor history in skits and songs. Other society-sponsored events have included tours of homes and churches, bus tours, Hudson River cruises on historic boats such as

11466-425: The village. This includes regular programs and special events at the pool, parks, and sports fields and courts. It issues about 1,400 pool permits annually and manages about 400 summer camp registrations each year. The department has operated the recreation center on Macy Road since 1980, and also runs a youth center on Van Lu Van Road. Its 2017–18 operating budget is $ 1,432,116. The department had its origins in

11583-706: The world supported by taxes was the Peterborough Town Library in Peterborough, New Hampshire . It was "established in 1833". This was a small public library. The first large public library supported by taxes in the United States was the Boston Public Library , which was established in 1848 but did not open its doors to the public until 1854. Briarcliff Manor Public Library The Briarcliff Manor Public Library

11700-613: The young and adults. Public libraries typically allow users to borrow books and other materials outside the library premises temporarily, usually for a given period of time. They also have non-circulating reference collections and provide computer and Internet access to their patrons. The culmination of centuries of advances in the printing press , moveable type , paper , ink , publishing, and distribution, combined with an ever-growing information-oriented middle class , increased commercial activity and consumption, new radical ideas, massive population growth and higher literacy rates forged

11817-408: Was also uncommon for these libraries to have buildings designated solely as the library building during the 1790s, though in the 19th century, many libraries would begin building elaborate permanent residences. Bristol, Birmingham, and Liverpool were the few libraries with their own building. The accommodations varied from the shelf for a few dozen volumes in the country stationer's or draper's shop, to

11934-455: Was appointed. A paid part-time librarian alongside volunteers operated the circulation desk and created the library's card catalog . (Until 1955, there was only one paid librarian among a staff of volunteers. ) In 1925, the village government donated US$ 500 ($ 9,100 today) to the library and established an annual appropriation for it. At that time, it had 1,900 volumes, which became 3,000 by 1926, 6,000 by 1939, and 8,000 by 1952. By 1988,

12051-499: Was designed by Beatty, Harvey and Associates, and is modern, made of glass, metal, and brick, made larger and more open than the prior building. It is on a steep hill, directly adjacent to a parking lot, where the 1968 library stood. The new library has features that allude to historic Ossining architecture, and uses natural stone and brick, materials of the Hudson Valley. The curving entrance has wide concrete steps, modeled after

12168-578: Was designed by architect, village resident, and library board member Catherine Bukard. The exterior was designed by Lothrop Associates. Robert Wilson Crandall, namesake of the Crandall Room and president of the library board in the 1960s, helped endow the library's capital campaign . The children's room was named in memory of Juliette Wasserman, and was endowed by the Juliette Wasserman Children's Foundation. The library

12285-659: Was established in 1608 (six years after Thomas Bodley founded the Bodleian Library , which was open to the "whole republic of the learned") and Chetham's Library in Manchester, which claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, opened in 1653. Biblioteca Palafoxiana in Puebla City , Mexico, is recognized by UNESCO for being the first public library in the Americas . It

12402-683: Was established in Rome by the first century BC, in the Atrium Libertatis (see History of libraries § Classical period and Gaius Asinius Pollio § Later life ). However, the first major public library is said to have been established in Athens by Pisistratus in the sixth century BC (see Library of Alexandria § Historical background ), and by the end of the Hellenistic period , public libraries are said to have been widespread in

12519-665: Was founded in 1646 by Juan de Palafox y Mendoza . In his seminal work Advis pour dresser une bibliothèque (1644) the French scholar and librarian Gabriel Naudé asserted that only three libraries in all Europe granted in his times regular access to every scholar, namely the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, the Biblioteca Angelica in Rome, and the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Claude Sallier ,

12636-511: Was made for a library to be erected in the house of the Kalendars. A reference is made to a deed of that date by which it was "appointed that all who wish to enter for the sake of instruction shall have 'free access and recess' at certain times." In 1598, Francis Trigge established a library in a room above St. Wulfram's Church in Grantham, Lincolnshire and decreed that it should be open to

12753-445: Was modern, square, and flat-roofed. It had 17,390 square feet (1,616 m). It was designed by Malsin & Reiman and cost $ 574,000. The collections of the library include 117,987 items. As a member of the 38-member Westchester Library System , the Ossining Public Library can also offer its patrons access to the holdings of the other county libraries. The library is chartered as a School District Public Library, serving residents of

12870-561: Was named in honor of longtime Ossining resident and author John Cheever . The room was designed resembling a living room, including a stone-clad gas fireplace; the room also features artifacts of Cheever's. The lower level art gallery includes two sections: the Main Gallery and the Hallway Gallery. The gallery has monthly art exhibits, and sometimes has two to three shows per month. The former library, completed in August 1968,

12987-552: Was not open for browsing. Once a pass to the library had been issued, the reader was taken on a tour of the library. Many readers complained that the tour was much too short. Similarly, the Bibliothèque du Roi in Paris required a potential visitor to be "carefully screened" and, even after this stipulation was met, the library was open only two days per week and only to view medallions and engravings, not books. However, up until

13104-616: Was open to the public and was the first Polish public library, the biggest in Poland, and one of the earliest public libraries in Europe. At the start of the 18th century, libraries were becoming increasingly public and were more frequently lending libraries . The 18th century saw the switch from closed parochial libraries to lending libraries. Before this time, public libraries were parochial in nature, and libraries frequently chained their books to desks. Libraries also were not uniformly open to

13221-516: Was raised over the proposed location, given that it would legally be only temporary and was not centrally located in the village. The proposed building would be 1,400 square feet (130 m ) as opposed to their present 750 square feet (70 m ). On March 18, 1952, the New York State Board of Regents granted the library a provisional charter . On January 19, 1959, the library moved to its fifth location and first permanent home,

13338-416: Was rejected by 199 votes. From 1997 to 1999, major renovations took place on the building's interior and exterior. In the early 2000s, plans began for expansion of the library building. A modular building was set up in 2004 as a temporary children's room. In November 2006, a $ 4 million bond resolution ($ 6.05 million today) for the addition passed by 228 votes, from the 2,632 cast. Construction of

13455-470: Was sold in October 1929 for $ 16,000; these funds were required to be used for recreational purposes. Thus, the organization gave $ 11,000 to the village for the construction of the Law Memorial Park pool, and $ 5,000 to the library. Upon the building's sale and the club's dissolution, the library was reconstituted as an association library with a 15-member board of trustees. The librarians sought

13572-437: Was the eleventh library to open, in 1857, after Winchester , Manchester , Liverpool , Bolton , Kidderminster , Cambridge , Birkenhead and Sheffield . The 1850 Act was noteworthy because it established the principle of free public libraries. In 1866, an amending Act was passed which eliminated the population limit for the establishment of a library and replaced the two-thirds majority previously required for adoption with

13689-491: Was too small by 2003, when Ossining residents voted to build another building. A new library was approved in 2003, with a public vote of 1,640 to 633. It was built from 2005 to 2007, at a cost of $ 15.8 million. The project involved purchasing the adjacent lot and building the new library there; demolishing the old structure once the new building was complete. The new library opened on March 25, 2007 and added many new or enhanced services, including over 50 public internet terminals,

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