We are proud to announce that starting on Monday January 12, Greenwich Free Library cardholders will be able to begin using Hoopla, the ultimate all-in-one digital library app, offering a diverse catalog of audiobooks, eBooks, comics and manga, music, movies, TV shows, and more. Patrons can save both time and money by using Hoopla for free with their library card, eliminating the need to subscribe to multiple streaming services.

What can I borrow with Hoopla? Hoopla adds more eBooks, audiobooks, as well as film, television, and music to our digital holdings, which already include Libby and Kanopy. (If you aren’t taking advantage of these extraordinary resources, it’s time to check it out!) You may have heard that Hoopla contains some AI-generated content. While that is true, IGreenwich Free Library has blocked all content, including audiobook narration, that involves AI. We believe passionately in humanity, and we want to provide human-made art and entertainment. 

How does Hoopla work? Patrons can sign up using their library barcode and an email address. Once registered, each patron will be able to borrow up to six items (including eBooks, audiobooks, film, television, music) each month. Patrons can access this electronic content on computers, smartphones, or tablets. Search for items either on the Hoopla site or app, or through the library’s online catalog.

How will Greenwich Free Library fund this acquisition? As our patrons know, the library’s budget is tight, and it is important to us that we not sacrifice our physical holdings in order to add this digital service. We are incredibly fortunate that the late Arlene Siegel, a regular library patron for many years, named the Greenwich Free Library as a beneficiary in her will. Arlene’s generous bequest gave us the opportunity to do something special for all of our patrons in her name. Because Arlene was fond of borrowing DVDs from the library, we felt that this service, which includes film and television in addition to books, would be an apt way to honor her memory. We want the public to know that without this gift, we would not be able to purchase this subscription. We are all benefitting from Arlene’s generosity. 

If you would like to contribute directly to the fund that Arlene’s bequest seeded, which will be used for years to come to ensure continuing access to digital content for patrons, or if you would like to include Greenwich Free Library in your own planned giving, please contact Sarah Murphy at smurphy@sals.edu.

Volunteer to be a reading buddy at Greenwich Free Library. Help kids practice their reading and enhance their love of the library! Gain valuable experience and volunteering and community service credit.

Reading Buddies is a new library program pairing young readers (grades 1-4) with older volunteers (grades 6-12). Young participants will be assigned a reading buddy, who will support their progress as an emerging reader and share in the love of stories! Our pal Lola the therapy dog will also be present to hear stories and look at pictures.

Mentors are asked to sign up for a minimum of five sessions, (but priority will be given to mentors who can attend all 10 sessions) beginning on November 13 and concluding on February 12 (no meetings  on Nov 27, Dec 25, Jan 1, 8 ). Volunteers will be provided with training and tools to help them become great reading mentors. 

Apply to be a mentor here.

Reading Buddies pairs young readers (grades 1-4) with teen and tween volunteers (grades 6-12). Young participants will be assigned a reading buddy, who will support their progress as an emerging reader and share in the love of stories! Our pal Lola the therapy dog will also be present to hear stories and look at pictures.

Reading buddies will have their choice of library books to enjoy at the library and to borrow, and all registered young readers will receive free books to keep! 

Young readers are asked to sign up for ten sessions, beginning on November 13 and concluding on February 12 (no meetings  on Nov 27, Dec 25, Jan 1, 8 ). Teens will be provided with training and tools to help them become great reading mentors.

Kids in grades 1-4 can sign up for Reading Buddies here.

Interested mentors in grades 6-12 can apply here.

From Friday, January 2 to Friday, February 6, Greenwich Free Library will host the third annual New Beginnings group art exhibit, presented by the Greenwich Library & Arts Association (GALA). The artists represented in the show run the gamut in terms of styles and media of visual arts, from paintings to photography, ceramic to pastels. The public is invited to view the works anytime the library is open, and to join the artists for a reception on Sunday January 18, 1-4pm.

Cheers to the Library! Wine & Cheese fundraiser

Sunday, December 84:00—6:00 PM6 Church Street

Cheers to the the Library Fundraiser

Join friends and neighbors for a warm welcome, live music, and bright conversation in one of Greenwich’s most beautiful historic homes.

• Wine, cheese, and charcuterie from local purveyors
• Live holiday music from Alan & Bonnie Epstein on mandolin & harp
• Silent auction featuring products and experiences from local business

At the home of Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein on Church Street

All proceeds from each $50 ticket benefit Greenwich Free Library’s annual fund for programs and materials. RSVP and purchase tickets here.

When? Sunday, Dec 8, 2024, 04:00 PM

Where? 6 Church Street, Greenwich, NY

Baseball-Once Simpler, Still Timeless is a three-part exhibit presented in Greenwich Free Library’s lobby and Community Room. A broad range of ephemera and personal memorabilia is organized within the Library’s glass-enclosed display cases while an extensive galley exhibit of limited edition and original artwork is shown both in the cases and throughout the Community Room.

Baseball-Once Simpler, Still Timeless is curated by Art Brod, a local resident and a lifelong baseball fan, historian and collector. Art has attended every annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony since 1964 and is a member of the President’s Circle at the Hall of Fame and Museum, SABR, and Friends of Doubleday Field.

Art has been assisted in organizing this exhibit by his wife Judith Ellers with many of her original oil portraits of HOF members displayed. More than 60 artworks by other prominent sports artists, including several by an old Cooperstown friend, James Amore, and a movie poster or two are presented.

Baseball-Once Simpler, Still Timeless will be on view at the Greenwich Free Library from September 3 through October 18. All are invited to a closing reception and curator’s talk on Thursday October 17 at 6:00 PM.

The fourth of our 2024 Music at the Library series is planned for Monday September 23rd with local group Northern Borne. Weather permitting, we will return to the gazebo at Mowry Park. Casa Reyes will return with their signature Mexican food offerings, and we will once again be giving away free books to kids.

Pictured is the Ky McClinton Band, who performed on a gorgeous August evening.

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.

Prizes were won, tacos and ice cream were consumed, and readers of all ages celebrated a great summer at the library last Wednesday. In what has officially become a tradition, community members of all ages came out to the library for the third annual Endless Summer Party.  

Community partners Em’s Art Shack and the Greenwich Youth Center added to the fun with a hands-on pottery activity and school supplies giveaways respectively. Drummer Larry Levine led participants in a drum and percussion circle, and local restaurant Casa Reyes joined in with their food truck. Thanks to the generosity of the Saratoga Springs Ben & Jerry’s, kids got a free scoop. Although summer hasn’t ended, the library’s summer reading program has, so the party was also an opportunity to celebrate the joy we shared as a community reading a cumulative total of 266,362 pages. This beat our 2023 total by a little over 2,000 pages. The library is a whole lot more than the books inside it, but when over 230 people come together to read those books, it warrants a party. 

Readers of all ages are invited to sign up for our annual summer reading challenge and enter to win prizes!

Here’s How:

Sign up for summer reading here or using the paper sign up form at the circulation desk

Three Ways to Earn Raffle Tickets:

• You will receive a weekly e-mail with a link so you can report your pages read. Each week when you report your pages you will submit your basket choice on the online form to be entered to win
• You can win additional raffle tickets by coming into the library to spin the wheel. You are limited to one spin per day Fill out your raffle tickets with your name and phone number and make sure to write down your basket choice on your ticket. Hand your tickets over to the circulation desk and we will put them in the corresponding jars
• Visit the library to pick up our Summer Reading Road Trip challenge. Complete the library and reading tasks to earn more raffle tickets!

Last year, 203 readers of all ages read 264,545 pages. This year, do you think we can make it to 300K?

Thanks to the Stweart’s Holiday Match Program and to Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council for their support of our 2024 summer reading program.

Donate

The majority of our library’s budget is publicly funded, and we are grateful to the citizens of Greenwich for approving our recent budget proposition. Although this public funding covers many of our operating costs, we rely on grants, and individual and organizational donations for the most essential things we provide to the community: materials and programs.

Between 2022 and 2023 our programming participation numbers ballooned by 227%. Our costs, thankfully, did not go up by quite that percentage (we do a LOT with a little), but the simple fact is that the more we do, the more it costs. For 2024, we’ve made an ambitious goal for ourselves: to raise $25,000 in individual funding. A generous donor has agreed to match this amount, so every dollar that you donate goes twice as far. So, far we have raised $10,240. But if everyone reading this donates $25, we could reach our goal today.

If you’ve already made a contribution, thank you. If you can spare a small donation, thank you. And if you cannot donate at this time, please know that just by showing up and using your library, you are supporting your library. Come see us, borrow a book, and stay for one of our many events!