Friends of the Bryant Library

"CARPE DIEM - SEIZE THE DAY"
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Purchase a Bookplate!
The Friends' Children's Book Endowment Fund Continues

You can purchase a bookplate to honor a person for a special occasion, or just because he or she is a special person. The bookplate will be placed in a new children's book and added to the Children's Room collection. Donations can be made in the Children's Room of the Bryant Library.

A gift card will be sent to indicate that a donation has been made to the Friends of Bryant Library and in which book the bookplate can be found. Patrons may purchase as many bookplates as they wish. The donation is $10.00 (cash or check) per bookplate. Books will be selected by the Bryant Library Children's Room staff. Money raised by the Friends of Bryant Library will go towards the purchase of equipment and special programs that are not part of the library's regular operating budget.

Valentine House

The Valentine family lived in the house for over a century. In 1882 it achieved a certain fame when William M. Valentine was assaulted as he rowed across Silver Lake after closing his near-by store on Main Street. He died two years later as a result of the attack. After his widow Lydia died in 1912, the house became home to groups bringing activities to Roslyn.

A House with Many Lives

1915: Valentine House and 2 1/2 acres acquired by the Roslyn Neighborhood Association. The Association was organized to "promote the recreational, industrial, intellectual, moral welfare of Roslyn, Nassau County, New York, and vicinity." The Neighborhood Association became the prime civic organization serving the Roslyn community.

The Valentine House served as the headquarters of the association and was known as the "Neighborhood House." It was used by the Roslyn Visiting Nurse Association, The Red Cross, the Roslyn Boys Club and other community groups. The Neighborhood Association offered a wide variety of programs, including English classes for new immigrants, a hot lunch program, the first garbage pickup and disposal program in Roslyn, and during WWI a canning kitchen was in operation. During this time a library was established.

1916: Neighborhood House used as hospital during the infantile paralysis (polio) epidemic.

1919: Neighborhood Association begins campaign to erect a War Memorial Building adjacent to the Valentine House.

1920: Cornerstone laid for War Memorial Building (now Bryant Library).

1924: Trustees of the Roslyn Neighborhood Association vote to merge the Neighborhood Association library with the Bryant Circulating Library Association.

1935- early 1940s: Headquarters for the WPA theater at the War Memorial Building.

1951: The Neighborhood Association gave the Valentine House and War Memorial Building to Bryant Library.

1955: A meeting place for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

1963: Headquarters for Roslyn Village Hall.

1968: Valentine House moved across Paper Mill Road to make room for Bryant Library (Memorial Building) expansion.

1995: Village Hall relocates to new home on Old Northern Blvd.

1998: Valentine House becomes Bryant Library Annex, housing library administrative offices, Friends of the Library used bookshop and a computer training/meeting room.

Friends Book Store

The Friends of the Bryant Library invite you to visit our Book Store on the main floor of the Valentine House opposite the library on Paper Mill Road in Roslyn, NY.

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The Bryant Library, 2 Paper Mill Road, Roslyn, NY 11576
Phone: 516-621-2240 Adm Fax: 516-621-2542 Ref Fax: 516-621-7211