Library Director: Jane Getty |
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History Info: The Amsterdam Free Library stands at the comer of Church Street and Rt. 5. The building was opened to the public on November 3, 1903. It was built by Masonic craftsmen with funds provided by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The wing at the rear of the library was added in the year 1980. The Library began as a literary society back in the early 1800's. It became incorporated in the year 1891 and was named the Amsterdam Library Association. Its first president was Dr. William Robb. The first treasurer was David Cady. Those men, along with Andrew Carnegie, are memorialized by valuable plaques placed in the vestibule a few months after the building was opened. After Robb's death in 1898, S.H. French was elected as his replacement, and it was his letter to Andrew Carnegie that was truly the beginning of the Amsterdam Free Library as we know it today. Carnegie sent a reply stating, "Responding to your communication, if the City of Amsterdam will pledge itself to support a Free Library and provide a suitable site, I will be glad to furnish $25,000 to erect a Free Public Library building". And so, the name was changed to the Amsterdam Free Library, a lot was purchased, and the building erected. Solid oak woodwork is found throughout the building, from the bookshelves, to the doors and stairways, and even into the basement. Another distinguishing feature of the building is its arched entryways. Even the old radiators are decorative, and still operational. The Library is a museum dedicated to its history in many ways. Along with the plaques in the vestibule, portraits of the founding fathers, Robb, French, and his son, Charles E. French, grace the walls at the front of the building. The French family held the presidency of the library from 1898 through 1964, a real dynasty. At the helm from 1965 through 1981 was Edward J. Kelly, who was responsible for the addition of the rear wing 1980. Another portrait, of Clementine Mazzone, looks over the reference room. She was a dedicated director, serving the library for 32 year before her death in 1986. There is a photo of the ground breaking ceremony in 1902, and the original charter is framed and displayed. Also on display throughout the Library are several Native American prints from the collection of the late Tom Constantino. Numerous sculptures can be found perched atop bookshelves as a tribute to the arts, including Rip Van Winkle on the Mountain, and The Council of War,by famous sculptor John Rogers, whose works were very popular in the late 1800s. A local history collection is on display in glass cases on the main floor, and there are many other very old local and regional books and references in the basement as well. A quote made by S.H. French at the ceremony laying the cornerstone of the building was quite interesting, and profoundly true, even today. "It is fitting that this building should find its place among the homes of the city... The whir of spindle and wheel will penetrate even the rooms' set apart to reading and meditation, a constant reminder of the fact that thought and action must be inseparable. The toiler, not the idler, is the one for whom libraries are founded." |
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Last updated:
April 05, 2008 |
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