LIBRARIES GREAT NECK LIBRARY MAIN LIBRARY 159 Bayview Avenue Great Neck, NY 11023 Phone: (516) 466-8055 Library Director: Kathy Giotsas kgiotsas@greatnecklibrary.org
STATION BRANCH
PARKVILLE BRANCH
26 Great Neck Road Great Neck, NY 11021 (516) 466-8055, ext. 233, 234, 235
10 Campbell Street New Hyde Park, NY 11040 Phone: (516) 466-8055, ext. 273
LAKEVILLE BRANCH
Great Neck Library Board of Trustees: Executive Director: Kathy Giotsas, MLIS, MBA
475 Great Neck Road Great Neck, NY 11021 Phone: (516) 466-8055, ext. 231, 232
Assistant Director: Tracy Geiser President: Robert Schaufeld Vice President: Joel Marcus Secretary: Michael Fuller Treasurer: Marietta Dicamillo Assistant Treasurer: Francine Ferrante Krupski Assistant Treasurer: Rebecca Miller Trustee: Douglas Hwee
Looking back: The rich history of Great Neck Library Three women, Mrs. William Onderdonk, Louise Skidmore and Mrs. M. P. Baker, founded the Great Neck Library in 1888 with only $100. The library’s original home was the telegraph office and the telegraph operator’s mother served as librarian. On Feb. 19, 1889, with 102 books and 40 subscribers, the library was formally incorporated in what was then the County of Queens as a private association library. The library sought to serve the roughly 1,000 residents of Great Neck. The six self-elected members of the Board of Directors were the Rev. Louis deCormis, president; Louise Udall Skidmore, secretary; Helen Merritt, treasurer; Harriet S. Onderdonk; Charles Gignoux; and Edward Morgan. The founders believed the influence of a good library molds and refines people into “noble men and women.” Until 1990, the library censored books they thought were considered “unwholesome,” such as the “The Three Musketeers.” The library derived its income from membership dues and subscription fees. Membership was $10 per family and by board approval. In 1921, the fee was reduced to $1. By 1892, women had replaced the gentlemen on the Board of Directors. They set on a task to build a free library. The library moved to a room in the League Building from 1892-1907, a young men’s social club near 540 Middle Neck Road. By 1900, as noted in the librarian’s report, the library was growing in “importance as part of the village life and
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has its place as surely as the school or even the church.” Louise Eldridge, secretary of the Library Board of the time, and her husband became the library’s benefactors by erecting and donating a new building on Arrandale Avenue, next to the Arrandale Schoolhouse. In its first year, the Arrandale Library recorded a collection of 2,500 books, circulation of 5,000 and a membership of 252. Within two years of the opening of the Arrandale building, circulation doubled to over 10,000 books a year. The board purchased books of all kinds and published lists of newly acquired titles in the local newspaper. In 1928, the library finally became fully tax-supported. The Station Branch officially opened in January
1923. In 1930, a new children’s room, reference room and two floors of stacks were donated by Eldridge. In 1939, taxpayers in New Hyde Park became eligible to use the library. In 1941, the Lakeville Library Branch opened its doors at 257-12 Northern Blvd. In 1953, the Station Branch moved to 40B Great Neck Road. Head Librarian Lucy Kinloch started Library on Wheels in 1942 to bring books to readers as a result of gasoline shortages caused by the war effort. The year 1947 marked the death of Louise Skidmore Eldridge, the library’s benefactor for 67 years. In 1954, the first Parkville Branch opened at 2052 Lakeville Road. With three
branches and a return for mobility for residents, Library on Wheels was retired. In 1953, the Station and Lakeville Branches moved to their current locations. The Parkville Branch moved to larger quarters in the Parkville School Annex in 1959. Board meetings were opened to the public in 1965 and the library joined the Nassau Library System. In 1967, the library’s first Nominating Committee was formed. In 1968, the $1 membership was dropped, and membership became free and unlimited. In 1970, the library assumed a new location on Bayview Avenue after lack of space limited programs and adding more books. Professional concerts,
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arts shows and film programs were held by volunteer committees. A Contemporary Black Artists in America exhibit has been running every year since 1972. The Library soon filled many cultural needs by have appearances from nationally acclaimed poets, authors and musicians. Shortly after the new building opened, a free library bus began providing stops from the Parkville Branch to Kings Point. Library Director Joseph Covino led the implementation of these changes; he was appointed in 1969. He conceived LEVELS in 1975. LEVELS met the creative needs of youths in seventh grade and up. JUNIOR LEVELS, a program for fifthand sixth-graders, was established in 1986. In 1974, a music room and a multipurpose room was created. In 1980, a photo gallery, dedicated to board member Morton A. Shapiro, who had died in office, was established. During the mid-1980s, a new sound system was installed in the community room, and the Comtec system for use by the hearing impaired, was made available during film programs. Video cassettes were added to the collection. The library in the past two decades take an active role in community affairs. One example is the library’s distribution of the annual Voter’s Guide, prepared by the League of Women Voters. Information and photo provided by the Great Neck Library.