About
Elting Memorial Library is a cornerstone of the New Paltz community. We are a taxpayer-supported not-for-profit association with an annual circulation of over 100,000 items serving over 14,000 residents. Housed in a modern building featuring one of New Paltz’s original stone houses, our building is listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. We are proud members of the Mid-Hudson Library System and are free and open to the public.
Mission
Elting Memorial Library believes informed citizenry is the foundation of democracy. We aspire to be a community center in which people of all ages and backgrounds can learn, read, and enjoy a variety of educational and cultural programs. We strive for a welcoming environment in which our collections, technologies, staff, and facilities serve the needs of our community. Our general collection will reflect the diversity of New Paltz. Our historical collection will be an ever-expanding source of information about the unique history and people of our region.
Annual Report
Our most recent annual report can be found by clicking the button below.
The Elting Memorial Library is a free association public library. All residents of the Town of New Paltz (including the Village), who are of voting age, are members of the association. No financial contribution is required to be a member.
Association Membership
Mid-Hudson Library System
The Mid-Hudson Library System is a cooperative public library system, chartered by the New York State Board of Regents in 1959. The organization serves Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Putnam, and Ulster counties and has 66 member libraries, including Elting! The Library was one of the original members. This cooperative system creates greater access to materials. If we don’t have what you’re looking for in our building, we can search the catalog, and chances are another library has it, and it will be ready for pickup on our holdshelf within a few days.
Charter
On April 1, 1909, a Provisional Charter was granted to the New Paltz Free Library by the Board of Regents, New York State Education Department. On December 2, 1915, the Board of Regents granted the New Paltz Free Library it’s Absolute Charter as an association library serving the Village of New Paltz. On June 25, 1920, the Charter was amended by the Board of Regents to change the name from the New Paltz Free Library to the Elting Memorial Library of New Paltz, New York. On December 15, 1978 the Charter was amended by the Board of Regents to increase the number of Trustees from nine (9) to twelve (12) and to enlarge the service area to the boundaries of the Town of New Paltz. On June 14, 2014, the charter was amended by the Board of Regents to increase the maximum number of trustees from twelve (12) to fifteen (15).
Library History
New Paltz citizens have had access to various libraries as early as 1817. The New Paltz Independent reported in the spring of 1883 that records were found of a library hosted in what is now called the DuBois Fort or Historic Huguenot Street Visitor Center. It’s sixty-two members paid around $3.50 to join and 25¢ annually. Included in the books of this early library are Russel’s History of England, Travels in England by a Frenchman, and Clark’s Travels through North America.
When the New Paltz Academy was built, the library was moved there, and citizens were able to use the collection there until the Academy burned in 1884. Similarly, the New Paltz Normal School library was accessible to locals until the building burned in 1906.
The New Paltz Free Library
New Paltz Academy c. 1840-1844
New Paltz Academy March 1 , 1884
New Paltz Normal School c. 1889-1906
New Paltz Normal School April 1906
The school’s library temporarily moved into rooms at 60-62 Main Street while a new school building was under construction off of Plattekill Avenue. This building, now known as Old Main, was open for classes in January 1909. It was around this time that the women of the New Paltz Study Club realized that New Paltz needed a free library association separate from the school. In February, they moved into the space previously occupied by the school’s temporary library. The reading room provided two daily newspapers, magazines, and around 75 books were gifted to begin the collection. The Study Club assumed all expenses and hired Flora Schoonmaker as the first librarian.
In the process of applying for a charter, the Study Club realized the current location of the library would not meet set standards. The library moved to 68 Main Street, which now houses Gourmet Pizza. On April 1, 1909, a provisional charter was granted to the New Paltz Free Library Association by the Regents of the University of the State of New York.
The library would stay at 68 Main Street until 1920 when it moved to 93 Main Street and changed it’s name to the Elting Memorial Library.
60-62 Main Street, on right
68 Main Street
The library at 68 Main Street was a success. In the 10 years since the library first opened its doors, the collection had grown to include 3,000 books, and circulation was over 9,000. The board began to look for a new, bigger space to house the library.
In December of 1919, the last person to live in the house at 93 Main Street, Theora Hasbrouck, passed away. She had been renting out rooms in the house after the passing of her husband, Oscar. Lanetta Elting DuBois, President of the Board, had approached Theora as early as 1909 in regard to Theora selling her home to house the library without much luck. When Theora passed away, Lanetta and the Study Club began to raise funds to purchase the building. Lanetta took a chance and wrote to her cousin in Chicago for help raising funds. Philip LeFevre Elting had gone to Chicago as a young man and made his fortune manufacturing paint, specifically a shade of gray used to paint Navy warships during the First World War. He agreed to purchase the building for the library, on the condition that it be renamed the Elting Memorial Library.
Elting Memorial Library
Telegram confirming the purchase of 93 Main Street
Philip LeFevre Elting and his wife Jessie McNulty Elting sold the property to the newly formed Elting Memorial Library for the price of $1 on July 23, 1920. Kingston architect Myron Teller was hired to renovate the stone building from a private home to a public building. The new library opened on October 9th and was formally dedicated on the 16th. Attendees of the event were welcomed by Board President Carolyn Hillard and then given a history of the library by Ella McLaury. Victor Elting presented the building to Dr. Clarence Woolsey, President (Mayor) of the Village, on behalf of his brother Philip. Dr. John Finley, President of the University of the State of New York, gave the keynote address and presented the library with a copy of his book, The French in the Heart of America.
Originally, the two most eastern rooms (the Passport Office and West Room) were the only two rooms open to the public. Shelves were added to the center hall and eastern room within the next few years. Renovations in 1962, 1978, and 2006 took the library from its original stone footprint to the building we operate in today.
Elting Memorial Library c. 1920-1923.
For a more in-depth history of the Library, as well as a history of the stone house written by Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection Coordinator Carol Johnson, click the button below.