Cazenovia Public Library

Cazenovia’s first library opened in 1828, some 35 years after the town’s founding in a region that had once been Iroquois Indian territory. That year, merchant John Williams established a circulating library in his general store on the village’s main thoroughfare, Albany Street. Williams advertised his library in the Madison County Eagle in June 1828: “The subscriber has established a circulating Library at his store, consisting of 200 vols. Miscellaneous works, embracing many of the standard English authors. New publications will be added to the library occasionally. Terms made known at the Library.”

In 1886, the Cazenovia Library Society was formed; the organization was similar in nature to the companies that established and maintained libraries through membership, lending fees, and gifts: “The aim is not to start off with a rush and allow the project to die in a short time, but to build slowly and surely, that in years to come we may have as fine a library as any town of this size in Central New York.” Society President William Burr donated rooms above his office on Albany Street for the project. The Library quickly outgrew this location.

John Williams’ 1830 Greek Revival house, located just down the street from his store, was purchased in 1890 by a well-known Cazenovia benefactor, Robert J. Hubbard. The beautiful building was donated to the Society. In November 1890, the Library was “thrown open to the public” and was fitted with “new bookcases, shelves and other conveniences of the most approved kind.” The circulation room, stacks and reading rooms were set up on the building’s ground floor, while an upstairs room was specifically reserved for natural history specimens, objects of local interest and a collection of Egyptian artifacts. Among these remarkable artifacts was a complete mummy and its case, purchased by Hubbard in Egypt on his 1894 Grand Tour. From its founding to the present day, the Library has served as Cazenovia’s historical society and “community attic.”

The Williams house comprised the community library’s complete collection until 1996, when a modern, two-story structure was attached to serve as the main working building. All circulation and book storage functions were relocated to the new addition, and a number of features were added for local cultural and historical purposes. An exhibition gallery for local art now connects the new building to the old house. On the original building’s ground floor, a local history room and three museum rooms contain items from the Library’s collection, including an assemblage of Egyptian artifacts. Additionally, an archive room was added on the ground floor of the new structure to house the Library’s precious local documents. The ground floor also contains a community room, easily accessed from the building’s back parking lot, which is available, upon request, for meetings by local organizations. The Library offers computer services with Internet and Wi-Fi connections. Two quiet reading rooms in the original house retain their 19th-century interiors. Educational programs, developed by the Library, are used by more than 1,000 school children each year. The Museum is also a destination for college students studying design and history.

The Cazenovia Public Library serves a population of approximately 6,500 people and is a member of the MidYork Library System, which serves Madison, Oneida and Herkimer counties. The MidYork system provides access not only to its own holdings but also to books, CDs, DVDs, and resource materials in other library systems.