The Inside Press

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Centennial Celebration

Save the Dates! Chappaqua Library to Celebrate 100-Year Anniversary with Variety of Centennial-Themed Programs

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The Chappaqua Library recognizes a significant milestone in 2022 as it reaches its one-hundredth anniversary. Partnering with community groups, the library has planned a series of programs and activities including a Centennial Ceremony on Saturday, June 4, 2022, with community guests and burying a time capsule.

A complete list of programs centered around “Celebrating the Past, Inspiring the Future” will be available by mail and provided below. Activities have been developed for all ages, including in-person and outdoor programs.

The library has worked closely with the Chappaqua Garden Club, the New Castle Historical Society, the Town of New Castle, and the Friends of the Chappaqua Library to create programs that will showcase the library’s history and provide interactive ways for the community to contribute towards the library’s sustainable future.

CENTENNIAL CEREMONY 

Centennial Ceremony: Celebrating the Past, Inspiring the Future

June 4, 2022 | 11:00 AM 

Join us for a community ceremony to honor the library’s 100 years of service. A time capsule will be buried in the library’s courtyard to memorialize our history for future generations. Stay tuned as we announce special guests and activities.

CENTENNIAL PROGRAMS

Embroidery Class for Teens

April 4, 18, 25. May 2, 9, 16, 23 | 3:30-5:00 PM

In this 7-week series, teens will learn embroidery’s ancient and rich art; embellish your clothing with designs–Grades 5 & up. Please register

Teen Garden Club: Planting Heirloom Seeds

May 2, 2022, kickoff through summer | Thursday at 3:30 PM

The Teen Garden Club highlights heritage seeds this season as we honor the beautiful and unique varieties of vegetables and flowers from the past century. The Teen Garden Club meets every Thursday at 3:30 pm. 

Sponsored by the Friends, with a gift from the Linda Zhang Foundation.

Library for a Day: Revisiting Senter Street

May 7, 2022 | 2:00-5:00

The Chappaqua Library revisits our first home on Senter Street as we turn the New Castle Community Center back into a library for the day! Drop by the Community Center for some family fun. Learn about the library circa 1922, try your hand date-stamping a book, and play with some traditional wooden toys. Then, travel through the town center and a century of history with a family scavenger hunt starting at Senter Street! 

Storyteller Carol Birch Presents: “Our Storied Lives”

May 10, 2022 | 7:00 PM 

From the Roaring Twenties until today, family lives weave hiccuping hilarity and drenching sorrows in and out of numberless “ordinary days.” Those ordinary days shimmer in memory’s flickering light. Join Carol Birch for one family’s journey through our storied Centennial year. Carol’s conversational style is fiercely honest as she reminds us how wonderfully strange and strangely wonderful families are! 

Author Talk: “Almost Happy”

May 12, 2022 | 7:00 PM | Online

At the center of the library in the community. Community connects us, and so does laughter. The authors of Almost Happy invite you to “find your buttons, laugh at your inner joke, and be warmly provoked to change for the better.” 

Planting 100 for 100 Years

May 13, 2022 | 4:00-5:00 PM

May 14, 2022 | 11:00-12:00 PM

Kids and families are invited to leave a lasting mark for future library visitors in this plant-one, take-one home program with the help of the Chappaqua Garden Club. Families will be able to bring a tiny part of the library home with them! Learn about native landscape plugs, hear a story and enjoy activities.

Sponsored by the Friends; in partnership with the Chappaqua Garden Club. 

Jr. Garden Club: Milkweed for Monarchs

June 8, 2022 | 4:00-5:00 PM

Kids and families are invited to help with a permanent landscape planting of young milkweed plants to support migrating monarch butterflies at the library. Learn about butterflies, hear a story, and enjoy activities. Grades K-6. Please register.

Sponsored by the Friends; in partnership with the Chappaqua Garden Club. 

Bubbles Bus & Birthday Party

June 22, 2022 | 5:00-7:00 PM 

Kick-off summer reading with a library birthday blowout and treats! The Bubble Bus brings the party to us with music, dancing, and tons of bubbles

The Chappaqua Library is located at 195 S. Greeley Avenue, Chappaqua, New York.

More information about the library can be found here:

www.chappaqualibrary.org

#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