The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Katherine Whymark

#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

A Visit Inside the Chappaqua Library’s Spacious New Teen & Children’s Rooms

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Cathy Paulsen, head of Young Adult Services, Chappaqua Library, and Katherine Whymark, president, Friends of the Chappaqua Library  Photo by Grace Bennett/Inside Press

“Kids come to the library to see other kids; they want to hang out, so we decided teens were going to have their own space,” related Cathy Paulsen on a recent tour of the new Teen Room, and the new Children’s Room, too. Paulson heads young adult services at the Chappaqua Library. A new Teen Room followed a strategic planning decision to meet the challenge of creating an optimal space for the pre-teens and teens who descend into library spaces after school. “There are groups of kids who come; many are middle schoolers from Bell who make heavy use of the library. I can have 200 kids here at times.”

Instrumental has been the support from Friends of the Chappaqua Library. According to Katherine Whymark, Friends’ President, “While the library was still not open to the public during the pandemic shutdown, the Teen Room approached the Friends in the fall of 2020 to complete the project with new technology… and, we said yes.” The now new and inviting space with comfortable seating comes “complete with smart boards hooked up so the kids can work on assignments,” said Paulsen.  

“The smart boards we funded have already been put to great use; one is wall mounted and permanent to the Teen space,” added Whymark. “The other is mobile and can be moved and used throughout the library, by all departments.

The new space continues to evolve and may include a café’ and even one novel item: sewing machines! “Kids are really into repurposing things,” said Paulsen. We can work with WLS (the Westchester Library System), and teach them how to sew.” 

The Friends funding covered $15,000 of technology for the new Teen Room, including eight new chromebooks, three drawing pads and two Google Jamboards (identical to the tools used at the middle and high school).  

A new garden–located outside the room’s slider doors–drew teens planting seeds with help from staff and community garden volunteers. The kids help maintain the garden which produces potatoes, squash, flowers, cilantro, basil, parsley and more.

The Teen Room and its initiatives are just one aspect of funding from the Friends, a non-profit 501c3 group and fundraising arm of the library which generously approved over $60,000 for new furniture and technology tools for the renovated Chappaqua Library.

Wall-mounted Jamboard in new Teen Room and 4 of 8 Chromebooks for teens to use.

The Friends fundraise year-round to support initiatives for the library that are above and beyond the operating budget. The current construction has been going on since 2018, as part of the bond for all the Chappaqua School buildings. The Chappaqua Library building is a school district building, but it is run independently.

Chappaqua Library Children’s Room

Children’s Room Highlights

The Friends’ funding has included over $35,000 for the new Children’s Room, including the custom service desk, two built-in benches, and reupholstering two couches and a chair. According to Robbin Friedman, head of children’s services: “The children’s room staff are so delighted to sit at our beautiful new service desk in our light-filled room, thanks to the Friends. With refurbished couches and a brand-new window-seat bench, we look forward to seeing the community enjoy our new space as much as we do.”

A remaining $10,000 was allocated to new study room furniture, including a conference table, eight chairs, and a glass white board. The new study room is adjacent to the new Teen Room, and the furniture is in the process of being ordered. With more and more patrons wanting to sit outdoors, the Friends also funded four new outdoor tables and 16 new chairs, along with a rented tent for the courtyard during the summer. The gated courtyard is open to all library patrons, and access is available from the library gallery. 

The Daniel Silva Interview

The Friends were back to active fundraising with a first virtual author interview fundraiser. The event held July 20 featured The Cellist, Daniel Silva’s new spy novel. Ronni Diamondstein, Chappaqua Library Board President, interviewed Silva. “This opens the possibility of more virtual author fundraisers in the future, as well as hybrid events (blended virtual and in-person attendance),” said Whymark.

Looking Ahead

At press time, a pop-up book market was planned for the train parking lot in August.

The Friends Annual Book Sale is returning April 25, 2022, promising over 30 miles of used books to purchase!

The library is now open to the public Monday –Thursday, 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Come see all the new furniture and new spaces!

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.”