1983.10.12 _ Hart Library ready for new chapter
Dublin Core
Title
1983.10.12 _ Hart Library ready for new chapter
Creator
Burak, Connie
Source
"John C. Hart Memorial Library Historical News Clippings" Binder, Volume 2, 1972 - 1990
Publisher
Patent Trade
Date
1983-10-12
Rights
This item is made available for research and educational purposes by the John C. Hart Memorial Library. Rights status is not evaluated.
Format
PDF
Language
English
Coverage
Yorktown (N.Y. : Town)
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
The increasingly popular John C. Hart Memorial Library in Shrub Oak is on the verge of outgrowing its quarters. In fact, book circulation for both the main library and its branch at the Yorktown Community Cultural Center in Yorktown Heights has increased by more than 10 percent in the past year. And with virtually every nook and cranny of the facility in use, librarians are forced lo choose between space for books and room for people.
The library was established in 1919 after Catherine Dresser, daughter of John C. Hart, deeded her family's home and some 76 acres lo the town. Until the new wing opened in 1972, the old Hart mansion with its ample lawn and tall shade trees housed the entire library and, for many years, the librarian, who lived upstairs.
Sunlight pours through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the new wing. A reader who glances up to muse on a paragraph can view the quaint 19th-century village of Shrub Oak. But because of the shortage of space, these windows may soon have to be covered by bookshelves.
Last Saturday, librarian Florence Stevens pointed out the chicken's section where the encyclopedius had to be placed above the topmost books on the highest shelf. "Hardly what you'd call accessible." she commented.
Although almost 40 percent of Yorktown's 32,000 residents are active library users, there are only three individual carrels, or tables and chairs, in the adult section. According to Mrs. Stevens. these treasured spots for contemplative reading and study may also soon disappear, victims of the space shortage.
In an interview on Monday, library director Betty F. Stewart said: "Patrons don't understand why it's not quiet. On a busy Saturday in mid-winter, it is so crowded the students are sitting on the floor. They have to stand in line to use the microfilm and microfiche.
"There is a very high level of frustration for the staff and for the public," Mrs. Stewart continued. "We are being forced to become a library where people just cannot stay. There can't be a more picturesque library in Westchester, yet there is not one really comfortable chair where you can iust sit and look out. And we can't keep any real depth in the collection."
Mrs. Stewart offered some interesting statistics. Of the 38 members of the Westchester Library System. Hart Library is first in the number of circulations per volume. yet it is 30th in the total local public tax funds per capita.
The Hart Library has indeed been an economic resource for the community. The most substantial chunk of its budget drives from Yorktown property taxes: its services are available to anyone who lives, works, attends school or pays taxes in !he town. While the statewide figure for average library operating expense per person is $16.14, Hart costs $12.41 for each resident.
An article in The New York Times of Sept. 8 states: "Sales of books and magazines have incrased steadily in recent years and library use is at a record."
The feature also pointed out that "reading activity increases with education."
Following this trend, there has been a tremendous jump in adult users of Hart Library in recent years. Mrs. Stewart anributes much of this to the burgeoning of colleges, technical and professional schools in the suburbs. "Many of them attend schools 30 or 40 minutes away and could use the college libraries except
they have families and prefer to work near home."
In 1983 the federal job bill allowed matching funds for 35 percent of library renovation and construction costs. There are also two bills in the state legislature which are aimed at more library construction money. "We feel very strongly we shouldn't let an offer for matching funds pass," said Mrs. Stewart.
On Sep!. 29, the library board received permission from the town board to contact several architectural firms lo see what it would cost to bring Hart Library up to federal library standards.
At the present time. tlie Shrub Oak and Yorktown Heights facilities are seriously inadequate. Studies used by the federal government show that for a town of 32,000, there should be 96,000 volumes in its library; Hart owns 54,000. To serve the local public, 150 seats should be available: there are 23 in Shrub
Onk and 18 in Yorktown Heights. To provide a full range of services, about 21 ,000 square feet are needed in a well-designed library. Both branches of Hart combined offer barely 9,000 square feet.
Elsie Priestly, administrative assistant lo the library director, summed up conditions on Saturday. "We are at the point of desperation," she said. "We have been a voice crying in the wilderness."
The library was established in 1919 after Catherine Dresser, daughter of John C. Hart, deeded her family's home and some 76 acres lo the town. Until the new wing opened in 1972, the old Hart mansion with its ample lawn and tall shade trees housed the entire library and, for many years, the librarian, who lived upstairs.
Sunlight pours through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the new wing. A reader who glances up to muse on a paragraph can view the quaint 19th-century village of Shrub Oak. But because of the shortage of space, these windows may soon have to be covered by bookshelves.
Last Saturday, librarian Florence Stevens pointed out the chicken's section where the encyclopedius had to be placed above the topmost books on the highest shelf. "Hardly what you'd call accessible." she commented.
Although almost 40 percent of Yorktown's 32,000 residents are active library users, there are only three individual carrels, or tables and chairs, in the adult section. According to Mrs. Stevens. these treasured spots for contemplative reading and study may also soon disappear, victims of the space shortage.
In an interview on Monday, library director Betty F. Stewart said: "Patrons don't understand why it's not quiet. On a busy Saturday in mid-winter, it is so crowded the students are sitting on the floor. They have to stand in line to use the microfilm and microfiche.
"There is a very high level of frustration for the staff and for the public," Mrs. Stewart continued. "We are being forced to become a library where people just cannot stay. There can't be a more picturesque library in Westchester, yet there is not one really comfortable chair where you can iust sit and look out. And we can't keep any real depth in the collection."
Mrs. Stewart offered some interesting statistics. Of the 38 members of the Westchester Library System. Hart Library is first in the number of circulations per volume. yet it is 30th in the total local public tax funds per capita.
The Hart Library has indeed been an economic resource for the community. The most substantial chunk of its budget drives from Yorktown property taxes: its services are available to anyone who lives, works, attends school or pays taxes in !he town. While the statewide figure for average library operating expense per person is $16.14, Hart costs $12.41 for each resident.
An article in The New York Times of Sept. 8 states: "Sales of books and magazines have incrased steadily in recent years and library use is at a record."
The feature also pointed out that "reading activity increases with education."
Following this trend, there has been a tremendous jump in adult users of Hart Library in recent years. Mrs. Stewart anributes much of this to the burgeoning of colleges, technical and professional schools in the suburbs. "Many of them attend schools 30 or 40 minutes away and could use the college libraries except
they have families and prefer to work near home."
In 1983 the federal job bill allowed matching funds for 35 percent of library renovation and construction costs. There are also two bills in the state legislature which are aimed at more library construction money. "We feel very strongly we shouldn't let an offer for matching funds pass," said Mrs. Stewart.
On Sep!. 29, the library board received permission from the town board to contact several architectural firms lo see what it would cost to bring Hart Library up to federal library standards.
At the present time. tlie Shrub Oak and Yorktown Heights facilities are seriously inadequate. Studies used by the federal government show that for a town of 32,000, there should be 96,000 volumes in its library; Hart owns 54,000. To serve the local public, 150 seats should be available: there are 23 in Shrub
Onk and 18 in Yorktown Heights. To provide a full range of services, about 21 ,000 square feet are needed in a well-designed library. Both branches of Hart combined offer barely 9,000 square feet.
Elsie Priestly, administrative assistant lo the library director, summed up conditions on Saturday. "We are at the point of desperation," she said. "We have been a voice crying in the wilderness."
Original Format
News Clippings
Files
Citation
Burak, Connie , “1983.10.12 _ Hart Library ready for new chapter,” John C Hart Library Archive, accessed May 16, 2024, https://hartarchive.omeka.net/items/show/166.