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22-612: The library also consists of the Grinton I. Will branch and the Crestwood branch. All three libraries offer a variety of services, including computer and internet access, movie, audio book and CD check-outs, as well as traditional book loans. The library offers free computer classes, from beginner to advanced, and is a source of free public programming all year round, including concerts and movies, classes, homework help, research help and informational workshops. The Yonkers Public Library

44-764: A language instructor and librarian at the Connecticut Agricultural College. During that same year, he earned a certificate of library science from the Columbia University School of Library Science. He additionally taught public library administration at the Pratt Institute Library School. On November 15, 1933, he was hired to work as the library director of the Yonkers Public Library . Under Will's direction, three branches of

66-665: A machinery manufacture at Saunders & Sons, Incorporated, bequeathed $ 50,000 to the Yonkers Public Library before his death in 1909. There was a stipulation that all of the money had to be spent on the purchasing of nonfiction books. With the opening, in the 1920s, of two branch libraries—one in the Armour Villa Park neighborhood and the other in the Crestwood neighborhood—the Carnegie library became

88-791: A permanent home. With the opening of the library, the Crestwood Library came under the direction of the city Yonkers. The Crestwood Library officially joined the Yonkers Public Library on October 18, 1928. On November 11, 1962, the Sprain Brook branch of the Library opened on Central Park Avenue in east Yonkers. In honor of the Library's longtime director, the Sprain Brook branch was renamed the Grinton I. Will branch in 1973. The Yonkers Public Library operated four branch libraries though Armour Villa Park closed (as superfluous) at about

110-738: A teacher in New York City. Will's brother Robert was born in 1909. Will grew up in Mamaroneck and attended the Rye Neck public schools. He then attended Wesleyan University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. He became a librarian at the Mamaroneck Public Library in 1922. He worked at the Mamaroneck Public Library for ten years and became its library director. In 1930, Will became

132-436: Is Nancy Maron. The Yonkers Public Library was chartered by the state of New York on February 9, 1893. Having been formed in 1883 by the consolidation of five public school libraries, the Library called various sites home between the years 1883 and 1904. Yonkers Mayor Leslie Sutherland, joined by writer John Kendrick Bangs and educator Charles E. Gorton, formed a committee in 1900 to request funds from Andrew Carnegie for

154-535: Is a founding member and the largest member of the Westchester Library System (WLS), a consortium of 38 libraries serving the residents of Westchester County. The Yonkers Public Library operates with a budget of over $ 9 million, 105 staff members, and a collection of nearly 700,000 books and other materials. The Director of the Library is Jesse Montero and the President of the board of trustees

176-634: The Yonkers Public Library . Grinton was the son of Edwin Robertson and M. Helen (Ingham) Will. Will's grandfather John H. Will immigrated to the United States from Bonn , Germany in 1848. His father, Edwin Will, studied architecture at the City College of New York and Cooper Union before working at an architectural firm. His mother, M. Helen Ingham, studied at Hunter College and then became

198-722: The Calvary Baptist Church. As a pianist, he published several pieces including Christmas carols. Grinton married Clarissa Lord on March 14, 1931, at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan. Clarissa attended Connecticut College for Women and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating, she worked as a statistician in the economics department at the University of Connecticut before getting married. Grinton and Clarissa had two sons together-Brian Robert and David Grinton Will. The Grassy Sprain Library's name

220-890: The New York State Historical Society, and was vice-president of the Yonkers Historical Society. He was involved with various Yonkers community organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America troop in Yonkers. Additionally, Will was the president of the Yonkers Rotary Club, deputy director of Civil Defense in Yonkers, member of the Red Cross in Yonkers, and member of the Yonkers Chamber of Commerce. Will

242-804: The Yonkers Public Library were built. These were the Coyne Park Branch, the Hudson Museum River Branch, and the Grassy Sprain Branch, which would later become known as the Grinton I. Will Library. Though already built, the Crestwood Library Branch building was enlarged. Bookmobiles were inaugurated by Will to provide library service to Yonkers residents who were not close to a library branch. With this service, Mr. Will hoped to provide library service to every part of Yonkers. This helped increase

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264-662: The age of 70. Besides working as a library director, Grinton I. Will served as a deputy director of the Westchester Library System , a board member for the New York Library Association, and became the director of the American Library Association in 1955. He was given an honorary life membership to the Mamaroneck Public Library. Grinton I. Will belonged to the Westchester County History Society,

286-643: The building was closed and eventually demolished in May 1982, to the dismay of many. (Photos of the old Carnegie Library are available for viewing through the Library of Congress, from the American Memory Project). Having been evicted from its old home, the main branch of the Library took up quarters in the former Genung's Department Store at 7 Main Street in Getty Square. Opening there in May 1981,

308-526: The circulation of materials. On December 19, 1961, a celebration was held for the one millionth book circulated. According to Grinton I. Will, by the time of his retirement in 1973, the Yonkers Public Library was the highest circulating library of its group (cities with a population between 100,000 and 250,000 people). Grinton was contacted by United States State Department about the possibility of using bookmobiles in Asia after World War Two . Though discussed,

330-634: The construction of a permanent library building. 17,000 volumes of books were kept in the Nisbet Mansion in Washington Park until the building was completed. Carnegie responded in March 1901, with a donation of $ 50,000, asking only that the City of Yonkers provide a suitable site for the library building and that it agree to expend $ 5,000 annually on the building's maintenance. Several sites for

352-535: The main branch of the Yonkers Public Library. Bookmobile service to outlying areas of Yonkers began in 1930. (The Yonkers Public Library Bookmobile is currently out of service.) The Crestwood Library was originally located at a room in the P.S. 15 school in Yonkers. It was established through funding by the Crestwood Library Association and it opened on July 8, 1923. There was a total of 1,100 book on its shelves at this location. The library

374-539: The main branch remained there for over 20 years. Its current home, since September 2002, is 1 Larkin Center. Now encompassing four floors, the spacious Riverfront Library shares the former, and thoroughly retooled, Otis Elevator Works building with the headquarters of the Yonkers Board of Education. Grinton I. Will Grinton Ingham Will (April 15, 1903 – June 6, 1986) was an American library director of

396-549: The new library were proposed by members of the Yonkers Board of Aldermen, including the site in the southwest corner of Washington Park that was eventually selected. Designed by local architects Edwin A. Quick & Son , and constructed by the local firm of Lynch and Larkin, Mr. Carnegie's library building opened to the public on the corner of South Broadway and Nepperhan Terrace on July 9, 1904. Support for this newly built library came from Ervin Saunders. Saunders, an executive of

418-408: The plan was never implemented. Various programs were held at the Yonkers Public Library while Will was the director. These included a mock radio broadcast with Stan Z. Burns from 1010 WINS , a concert with National Symphony musicians Daniel Domb and Sidney Moore, a production of The Wizard of Oz , and doll story times. Grinton I. Will retired from the Yonkers Public Library on May 1, 1973, at

440-663: The same time that the Sprain Brook/Grinton I. Will branch opened, the Crestwood branch has always continued to operate. And Sprain Brook and Crestwood were joined for a time by branch libraries in Coyne Park and in the Hudson River Museum (both now closed). The Carnegie library building served the Yonkers public for almost 80 years. Doomed by the decision to expand Nepperhan Avenue into an arterial,

462-602: Was a guest conductor for both the Larchmont and Mamaroneck choral societies. He wrote original lyrics and music for choral compositions. These include "Through the Night a Starry Way" and "Lord, O Lord, Look Down Upon Us." These songs were published by H.W. Gray Publications in 1928. He was an organist and choir director of churches in Yonkers, including the Bryn Mawr Park Presbyterian Church and

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484-412: Was registered with New York State on May 5, 1923. The Crestwood Library needed a new location after being told by the administration at P.S. 15 that the library space was needed for a classroom. Property was found at a location on Thompson Street in Yonkers to build the Crestwood Library. Construction for the library began on December 22, 1925, and was completed on October 16, 1926. The library finally had

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