Dear Neighbor,

The Friends of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library, Inc., would like to wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season and a very Happy New Year.

Our magnificent Library and Community Center has become the neighborhood hub where everyone can enjoy print and electronic material, view their neighbors’ artwork, stimulate their minds with discussions and lectures, and of course, find books to read.

Here are a few highlights of the outstanding programs and services our library offers:

The Library now offers FREE MUSEUM PASSES to 7 museums including MOMA and The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
Our Battle of the Books teams continued their tradition of being a force to be reckoned with! One of our teams came in 2nd place in the county.
We provide the same number of teen programs that libraries serving populations twice the size of Briarcliff offer! The participation of our community’s teens is exemplary.

Four more museum passes were added in April, in response to community requests. In the first six months, passes to MoMA and the Intrepid have saved residents at least $2,488 in adult admission costs. In all, 97 Library cardholders borrowed museum passes between April and October 2018. The average cost for an adult admission is $17.

Battle of the Books, an annual county-wide library competition for children and teens, took place on October 20. Briarcliff sent two teams, one of 4th to 6th graders and another of 7th to 10th graders, one of only 14 libraries that sent two teams. While one of the teams placed 2nd, what is exciting is that a regular participant who had aged out requested the book list so he could continue his summer tradition of reading all the books!

In 2017, the Library offered 63 programs for teens. That is the 17th highest number in the Westchester Library System for a library that is 28th for the size of the population served and 31st for operating expenses. It is comparable to libraries that serve twice the population and have three to four times the expenses. Teens plan the programs and also assist with programs for younger children. It’s is a great way for them to share their skills and help others.

As you can imagine, it takes a lot of resources to have the Library remain a jewel in our community — resources that aren’t fully covered by the Library’s budget. The Friends provide extra resources for the Library through our fundraising efforts such as this yearly appeal. Your help is essential to further enhance the beauty of our building, to help fund the purchase of new books and materials, and to keep offering fabulous programs for our community.

We hope you consider making a donation to the Friends. Your donation is tax-deductible, and can be doubled if your employer has a matching program.

You can donate online or by mail. https://bmplfriends.org/donate.html

Sincerely,

The Friends of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library, Inc. Board: Janet Bashford, President; Doreen Goldstein, Treasurer; Sara Siegel, Secretary; Deborah Barlow; Alison Flynn; Rain Henderson; Dara Mirsky; Karen Rigney; Debbie Silberman; and Nannette Wasserman