The Galway Public Library was established by referendum of the taxpayers in the Town of Galway in November 1997. Soon after Election Day, members of the IOOF, Galway Lodge, offered the use of their building as a home for the Galway Public Library . Membership had declined, and the Lodge was having trouble meeting expenses. IOOF members were enthusiastic about having a library in the community.
Library board members agreed the IOOF Hall would be an ideal home for the library. Built in 1989, the Hall is located on the main street in Galway Village, a short distance from the Galway Central School. The building is handicapped accessible and has space for off-street parking.
In January 1998 a lease agreement was signed between the IOOF and the Library Board. For use of the building, the Library agreed to pay for heat, electricity, snow removal, and lawn mowing. On July 2, 1998, the Galway Public Library opened its doors to patrons at the IOOF Hall.
In June 1999 members of the IOOF informed the library they could no longer afford to pay the taxes and other fixed expenses. The building was for sale, and the library was given the first chance to buy it. At a meeting of the Galway Town Board on December 30, 1999, the Board of Galway Public Library asked the Town Board to purchase the building for the library. The Library Board offered to provide a $10,000 down-payment, using capital funds set aside in the 1998 Library Founders' Drive. The Town Board agreed to consider the request.
At their March meeting, the Galway Town Board passed a resolution to purchase the IOOF Hall for the express use as a library for the Town. On May 25, 2000, the Town of Galway purchased the IOOF Hall using $10,000 from the library accounts and the remaining $25,000 from the BAN secured by the town.
The Galway Public Library received its provisional New York State Charter on July 14, 2000. The library was subsequently accepted into the Southern Adirondack Library System. After many months of bar-coding by staff and volunteers (most notably former Library Clerk Tamara Williams), the library began circulating with the online system in June 2002. The library now participates fully in all functions of the automated SALS/MVLA system, including loaning books and materials to other libraries within the system.
In 2006, the Board of Trustees of the Galway Public Library began a campaign to redistrict the library as a school district public library. A school district public library is a library that serves and is funded by the residents of an entire school district, rather than a town. Prior to redistricting, only 63% of library patrons lived in the town of Galway, but the town was providing 89% of the library's tax support. However, 95% of library patrons lived within the boundaries of the Galway Central School District, so redistricting was a logical way to stabilize funding and distribute it more equitably.
On June 19, 2007, the residents of the Galway Central School District voted overwhelmingly to redistrict the Galway Public Library as a school district public library. As a result of that vote, the annual tax appropriation for the library is now voted on as a separate line item by school district residents. Additionally, library trustees would now be drawn from the entire school district, not just the town of Galway, and would be subject to public vote as well. The Galway Public Library increased its operating hours to 35 hours a week, including more evening hours.
While redistricting was an exciting process, there were other significant events at the Galway Public Library in 2007 as well. On October 23, 2007, the library received its provisional charter as a school district public library. Story Quilt: Poems of a Place, a book that gathered poems about Galway written by adults and children from the community, was the recipient of the Joseph F. Shubert Library Excellence Award in 2007. Story Quilt: Poems of a Place was also recognized as Program of the Year from the Southern Adirondack Library System in 2005.
In May 2008, the Town of Galway generously sold the library building for $1.00, so the library now owns the building in which it resides.
On July 2, 2008, the Galway Public Library celebrated its tenth birthday. The party was well attended and the library's success was recognized by the community, the Southern Adirondack Library System, Senator Hugh Farley, and Assemblyman Jim Tedisco.
The staff and trustees of the Galway Public Library look forward to continuing to provide high quality library services to the residents of the Galway Central School District for many years to come. rd/7/30/09