Library Improvements

North Castle Public Library—Serving the Community with help from the Friends

To borrow a lyric from the Beatles, the North Castle Public Library certainly does get by “with a little help from our Friends. “When North Castle Public Library’s (NCPL) Board of Trustees developed a strategic plan in 2005 to ensure that Library facilities and services were meeting the needs of a growing school and town population, the Friends were enthusiastic supporters. Significant progress has been made in all strategic areas thanks to the strong teamwork of the Library Trustees, the Library Director and staff and with the support of the Friends of the North Castle Public Library, Inc.

Facilities Improvement
Thanks to memorial funds designated for NCPL and investments made by the Friends, the Magazine Room was renovated to accommodate a broad range of programs for 60 patrons. Doors and new video and projection equipment were added so the room could be used for films and audio/video presentations as well as the popular free Sunday afternoon concerts.

New Programming Emphasis
The Library Trustees hired a consulting Program Director to expand and promote a new list of programs for the library. Now entering its fourth year, the programming initiative has experienced tremendous growth in both the number and variety of programs (as shown below), and in the number of people attending programs.

Programs for adults, children and teens are held year round at the library, and every month the senior book club meets at the Hergenhan Recreation Center. The First Tuesday’s Book Club hosted Pulitzer Prize winning author Elizabeth Strout this year, and Sunday Afternoon concerts have featured bossa nova and jazz combos, folk musicians and classical trios of the highest caliber. Attendance is often standing room only for signature concerts in Whippoorwill Hall featuring jazz great Charlie Lagond, who puts together unforgettable shows on Arts Weekend and at the end of June

To help keep the community informed, a weekly program email newsletter has reached more than 2,700 addresses in North Castle every week. Residents can also sign up for the newsletter at www.northcastlelibrary.org. In the Library, colorful posters fill the street side windows by Whippoorwill Hall and digital displays and bulletin boards display program flyers. Infomercials and slides promoting the Library programs appear on NCTV our North Castle cable channels. Pod casts are now recorded of popular programs, and in January 2010, the 13 part series on Dante’s Inferno will be available for download.

Technology, Media and Collections
Since the introduction of wireless internet, new computers and software for children and teens have been installed in both Armonk and the North White Plains branch.

The Steve Geffen Fund continues to support enhancements to the Sports, Current Events and Curriculum collections. In 2009, cultural and concert programs were established in tribute to Doris Sydney, long time Friend of the Library. New Media has been added to the collection including downloadable audios and playaways (pre-loaded audio).

In these trying economic times, Town budgets have tightened and put pressure on the NCPL budget. But, as the attendance numbers demonstrate, the library has grown in importance to the community in large part due to the tremendous success of our programming. NCPL will continue to grow the spirit of teamwork between the Trustees, the library staff and the Friends while evolving to meet the future needs of the community.