The aim of this blog is to inform patrons and friends of the Pleasant Valley Free Library about new developments, especially those related to the projected expansion of the building. You can contribute to the Building Fund using the Community Foundation of Dutchess County--make sure you designate the Pleasant Valley Free Library Building Fund.
HISTORY OF THE BUILDING EXPANSION PROJECT
Pleasant Valley Free Library, founded in 1908, has been located in several buildings in the central hamlet of Pleasant Valley, NY, a former mill town near Poughkeepsie. When the Library outgrew the building it occupied in the early 1970s, the Manse of the Presbyterian Church had just become vacant. The library purchased the Manse in 1972 and took a 99-year lease on the land, renewable for a second 99 years. Local volunteers, including unions and contractors, over two years converted the Manse into a library, adding a one-story new wing, which now houses the adult book collection.
Nearly 30 years later, the Library's needs once again outgrew its building. The Manse and furnishing failed to meet requirements of disability laws or the fire code; there was no room for new books, media, or computers. Indeed, just to accommodate the current collection required 30 to 40 percent more space. An architect specializing in libraries determined that adding 6,000 square feet to the Manse, bringing usable space to about 10,000 feet, would be needed. The front yard, approximately 35 feet deep, presented the best available space for expansion.
A Library building committee hired architect Donald Mac Donald of Cold Spring to design the expansion and renovations on the Manse. He proposed maintaining the general look of the Manse for the addition and developed floor plans that included a new wing extending into the front yard to match the existing line of buildings on Route 44, which is also Pleasant Valley's Main Street. An elevator would connect to the second floor in such a way that a group could use the new meeting room even when the Library itself was closed. The region within the "L" formed by the new and old wings would become a plaza garden with handicapped access--no stairs to the front door.
At the beginning of 2007 a new community-based fundraising committee was formed to enable these plans to become a reality. For the past year and a half, the committee has been meeting monthly or more often to write grant proposals and plan fundraising events. This committee believes that progress in fundraising must have a broad base in the community. If you are interested in working with the committee, please e-mail Bryan Bunch at bryanhbunch@Gmail.com or phone the Pleasant Valley Free Library at (845)635-8460.
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