The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Andrew Farber

#CHAPP100 Chappaqua Library Turning 100

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“Celebrating the Past, Inspiring the Future”

The Chappaqua Library is recognizing a major milestone in 2022 as it reaches its 100th year of service. will include activities throughout the year with a Community Centennial celebration on Saturday, June 4, 2022. 

The Chappaqua Library is the heart of a vibrant community where people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures engage in lifelong learning and discovery while actively participating in the life of the community. Its mission: to provide exceptional resources, programs, and services that promote the joy of lifelong learning and discovery and to offer a welcoming place for people to gather and share experiences.

“Over the past 100 years, the Chappaqua Library has enriched the community in meaningful ways, and thrived thanks to the overwhelming enthusiasm and financial support of the community. The Board looks forward to our dedicated staff continuing to provide innovative programs and outstanding service into the next 100 years,” says Ronni Diamondstein, Chappaqua Library Board President. 

Andrew Farber, Library Director says, “The Library has changed dramatically over the last one hundred years. We have strived to respond to our patrons’ needs. Our warm and welcoming staff work is looking ahead to the future and will continue to engage the community with diversity, inclusivity and innovative programs.”

The library welcomes everyone through its doors located in the heart of the community on South Greeley Avenue. In 100 years, the library grew from a space in Lou Kopp’s Coal and Feed Store, located across the tracks on King Street and near the current northbound entrance to the Saw Mill River Parkway, to its current beautiful facility.  Starting with only 2,683 volumes in its collection, the library now offers over 134,000 materials and has added digital content, streaming services, programs for patrons of all ages, and provides space for the community to study, read, and enjoy.  

The upcoming programming  will honor the library’s history and look ahead with book discussions, oral histories, and exhibits. Partnering with many community groups, children’s and family programs will also reflect on the library’s history and commitment to service. Look for garden plantings and a time capsule that will preserve community submissions!  The Chappaqua Library is excited to share its own story as well as the community’s.

2022 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Friends of the Chappaqua Library. In addition to the very popular Annual Book Sale, which will return in April, they will work with the library to commemorate their anniversary. As Katherine Whymark, President of the Friends of the Chappaqua Library, likes to say, “According to my Star Wars friend Yoda, always in motion the future is, and we must move towards and with the future. Thanks to all that have supported the Friends in the past, and thanks in advance to those looking to support us in the future. Never give up, never surrender!”

To learn more about upcoming events, visit chappaqualibrary.org/centennial.

News and Photo Courtesy of The Chappaqua Library

DANIEL SILVA in Chappaqua on July 20! Register and Save the Date

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Excitement Builds for Friends of Chappaqua Library First Time Virtual Fundraiser Featuring Internationally Renowned Author Daniel Silva on July 20

Chappaqua Library Board President Ronni Diamondstein to Moderate

Daniel Silva   Photo By Marco Grob

Chappaqua, NY–Whether you are a long-time avid reader of Daniel Silva’s wildly popular Gabriel Allon series, or new to this internationally renowned author’s New York Times best-selling titles, everyone is invited to register for and enjoy a Friends of the Chappaqua Library first time virtual fundraiser featuring an interview with Silva on July 20.

Chappaqua Library board president Ronni Diamondstein, a long-time journalist as well, will be moderating the event and interviewing Silva about his writing career and his latest title, The Cellist, a thriller with plot twists galore surrounding Russian money laundering and a secret plot to undermine Western democracy. 

“Silva’s books are amazingly popular; women all over the world have fallen in love with Gabriel Allon!” said Diamondstein, in a pre-event interview with the Inside Press. “It will be fascinating to speak with him about the writing process. He is prescient with a real knack for tying things to current events.”

The event also represents a wonderful opportunity for the Friends’ group to catch up on a shortfall of about $60,000 following the cancellation of three years of the Chappaqua Friends Annual Used Book Sales–the first year due to construction, and for two years, due to Covid, related Katherine Whymark, a Greeley grad who has headed the Friends since 2015. The bond had been approved for the school district, Whymark explained, and construction started for the new Children’s Room in the fall of 2018. The Children’s Room was moved to the theatre during construction. Meanwhile, The Friends Annual Used Book Sale will be resuming in April 2022 (exact dates still to be determined).

“Things got really quiet from a fundraising standpoint,” lamented Whymark. “While in pandemic mode and still in lockdown, Joan Kuhn, director of programming for the Chappaqua Library, suggested a virtual fundraiser.” While in person author events are ultimately preferred, added Whymark, and expected to return this fall, if successful, the virtual option could prove useful in the future too, as needed, in the event of inclement weather, for example.

The Friends operates as a not-for-profit fundraising arm of the Chappaqua Library, providing funding for purchases outside the scope of what the budget might allow. Friends raise funds year-round for the library, and the funds are used for programs and furniture (most often). “We recently funded $58,000 of requested furniture and technology for the Children’s Room, Teen Room and outdoor courtyard,” said Whymark. “The money raised in this fundraiser will be used for 2022 book clubs run by the library.”

The Friends collaborated with Scattered Bookstore in Chappaqua to produce the event. For $32, you can pick up a signed book and attend the event. For $30, you can receive a signed book only–that’s for anyone who can’t make the event on 7/20, but would still like to purchase Silva’s signed book. A $5 option is available for anyone to watch and listen only without a book purchase. To register for the July 20 event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. (the event will not be recorded), please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/daniel-silva-book-event-fundraiser-tickets-159917334051

Diamondstein, Whymark said, was given an advance copy of The Cellist so she could prepare her questions ahead of time. “Daniel Silva’s publicist wanted someone with journalism experience who was also very involved in the community,” she said, and Diamondstein as the head of the library board and a healthy list of publishing credits, easily fit the bill. Chappaqua Library Director Andrew Farber will welcome Silva to the Chappaqua Library as will Whymark who will also introduce Diamondstein as the moderator.

Diamondstein said those registering for the event and purchasing Silva’s new title are in for a treat. “His books are page turners in which the unexpected will happen,” she said. “And one is never disappointed with the outcome.”

A Full Circle Beginning for New Chappaqua Library Director Andrew Farber

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PHOTOS BY GRACE BENNETT

In an interview this fall, Andrew Farber’s excitement was palpable. Outside the doors of the Library where we met, Farber expressed that his life has come ‘full circle’ from being a child visiting at the Chappaqua Library where his mother Susan Riley used to work part time as a librarian, to present times as the new director of the Chappaqua Library!

Farber’s position became official on October 19 after being appointed by the Library’s Board of Trustees.

“We are delighted to have him join our staff,” said Ronni Diamondstein, the library board Acting President. “He will be a great asset to our community.”

Farber succeeds Pamela Thornton in the role she served for the last 13 years. Thornton retired this past August.

Farber was the Director of the Somers Library position since 2015. “Andrew is knowledgeable, personable and creative. He brings to us an extensive IT background along with experience in management, budgeting, long range planning, grant writing, staff development programs and community outreach,” said Diamondstein.

Farber has worked successfully with the Somers Library Board and the Friends of the Library to create and implement policies and programming for both the patrons and the staff, according to a release provided by the board. “He created a partnership with Somers’ largest hamlet, Heritage Hills, and also expanded the library’s community outreach by creating new partnerships with local businesses and schools.”

Farber currently chairs the Westchester Library System Public Library Directors Association Technology Committee. He began his career at the Greenburgh Library working there for 16 years ultimately becoming the Young Adult Services Librarian, a period that he looks back on fondly.

“I was incredibly rewarded by my work with teenagers,” said Farber, who grew up in Ossining. “I felt I could really influence young lives. It was hard to leave, but Somers presented a new and bigger challenge.”

Commenting on his new role in Chappaqua, Farber said he first planned to “immerse myself with policies and procedures, get to know staff and any concerns, and introduce myself to local groups, before making any changes.”

“The Chappaqua Library is well used by its constituents, so there are high expectations for the library that come with that,” he said.  “I hope to continue the great programming the library offers. Pam has done a great job in her tenure and I hope to continue that.”

He noted that libraries today were historically already adding more online services, pre-Covid. He said we can “expect even more visual digital streaming such as online movies and concerts on top of all our usual audio/electronic books.”

Given that the library is an invaluable asset to the community during ‘Home for the Holidays,’ I asked Farber what might be in the works for the early winter. He offered: “We will be doing holiday type programming; perhaps virtual tours of different locations which we can share with the public at no cost.”

As for the future of library going, he added that we may see “more and more ‘normalization’ too as the pandemic tapers down. “I plan to work closely with the staff and board to see what their plans are for movement in that direction, and to see how we can proceed safely.”

To keep up with programs at the Chappaqua Library, visit ChappaquaLibrary.org.