Come Grow With Us Campaign

Our East Fishkill Community Library is tingling with excitement about its future -- a future full of plans and possibilities. Like a well-loved child whose parents have just said, "You grew an inch," the library is stretching and growing with the town and will be able to offer more space, more and better services, and more information resources.

The library was born in 1938 in a one-room chapel when women of Fishkill Plains pooled 100 of their own books to lend to their neighbors. Increased use and increased services for patrons planted the seed for the library to grow until the 1970's when it moved into the second floor of the old town garage. Not surprisingly, it quickly outgrew that. What a change from its original one-room space within the community chapel! After that, neighbors and friends raised funds to build a brand new library in 1989 on the site of the current library.

Our library has kept pace with the fastest growing town in Dutchess County. We've grown like a weed -- increasing in size by 5,000 square feet and giving new life to the existing 7,400 square feet.

The building isn't the only thing that's grown. Library services have sprouted and broadened with many new technologies. New equipment. Well-trained and more librarians. New databases. New links. More library users than any other library of its size in the region.

The East Fishkill Community Library is growing as a community center and as a gathering place, a meeting place. Many families consider our library the heart of the community. Library space is constantly used by Literacy Volunteers, peer tutors, Boy Scouts, and bunches of other community groups.

Your library serves kids of all ages as they grow. From preschoolers and the very youngest readers to retired life-long learners -- they are growing with us! Those with special needs for job searching, researching market data, finding profiles on competing businesses, and for specialized information come to our growing library. Do you need some assistance? The staff now includes two reference librarians who are here to help during extended hours. Our library has the tools and resources to find the information you need.

Your library, like a growing child, has good guidance and support but needs a nurturing community to really make a difference. We do have support through town funding that helps with our day-to-day operations. Now we need support for the library's growth spurt -- the children's section, the reading rotunda, The Adeline "Nan" Cross Conference Room, new shelving and furnishings, the redesigned efficient circulation area, more parking with lots of exterior lighting.

Book sales and overdue book fines do help with our efforts but what the library needs most, now, are generous financial donations. Give your library a hand and help our Board of Trustees raise $650,000 over the next three years. Help the library grow with our community...

Come grow with us!