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Briarcliff Library Gets Boost for Expansion

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. – It may be more than a year before the Briarcliff Manor Public Library opens its new wing. But thanks to a local donation, library officials can plan new programming to go with it.

The Briarcliff Committee for the Arts presented the Friends of the Briarcliff Manor Library with $2,500 in memory of local volunteer Paula Blum, who died recently, according to a statement. The money will go toward new cultural programming, with a portion set aside until after the former Briarcliff Manor train station is converted into a new library wing.

Construction crews are installing windows and doors as a part of that conversion, but Library Director Melinda Greenblatt said it would be some time before the entire project is complete.

“The Village Board of Trustees will be deciding on an architect fairly shortly, but I think it will still take awhile before it’s complete,” she said. “I hope it will happen in a year or a year-and-a-half.”

Greenblatt said she was thankful for the donation.

“This donation was made in Paula Blum’s honor, and she was an artist herself and an avid member of BriCA," Greenblatt said. “We have always had a very limited budget for adult programs, and this donation will mean that we will finally have a few programs for artists or performers who will be paid a fee.

"We’ve always concentrated on free speakers, and that’s somewhat limited our offerings. So this will help us offer a new series for us, and we are very thankful of the donation.”

The first program to benefit should take place in the fall, Greenblatt said.

The Friends of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library is working to raise funding to restore the 1906 train station into the library's new wing. For more information about the fundraising, residents can visit the organization's website

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