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SOMERS, N.Y. The Somers Library is celebrating its storied history as well as its 30th anniversary for an entire week, beginning Monday and culminating with a full day of festivities Saturday.
Jean Reidy, who is in her 90s and has been a library trustee since 1964, tells the tale.
Until we settled into the present building, the library was continuously moving, Reidy said. It was in a private house, a chicken coop, a cobblers shop. There was never enough support from the town.
Finally, around 1980, we decided to resolve the problem. We asked the town to open a library, but they werent anxious to do it. So we set up an independent committee to look for a site. We got a bond issue to finance it. One thing I love is that the bond issue got 350 ordinary citizens going door-to-door, asking people to support the new library.
We came up with 11 different sites, and we finally settled on Reis Park. We were very fortunate that Caroline Wright-Reis bequeathed the property to the town for educational and recreational purposes."
The site came with a number of perks, said Reidy, who started her career in 1961 as childrens librarian at the Primrose School. It was a marvelous gift," she said. "The administration of the land is the towns responsibility, so they take care of the parking lot and the lawns and the police monitor the site. Its a real community center.
Reidy will give a talk about the history of the library at 4 p.m. Saturday. The childrens room at the Somers Library is dedicated to her.
Grace Zimmermann of the Somers Historical Society said 1982 was a pivotal year for the library and not only because of the new home.
"It became a public library, accountable to the Town Board of Somers and funded by taxpayer dollars, she said. Before 1982, the library was an association library, not the municipal library it is today.
Somers has a second library, the Alice Minnerly Runyon Reference Library in the Historical Society section of the Elephant Hotel. It contains more than 200 volumes on the American Theater and the early American circus, as well as other historical records.
Events this week will include author talks, readings by local celebrities, a demonstration of rug hooking and a preview of the book sale.
Saturdays gala will feature face painting, clowns, jugglers, raffles, popcorn, games and a huge birthday cake. It also has been declared Amnesty Day for those who have overdue books.
Click here for a full list of Somers Library Week events.
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