This month the CFOC Nonprofit Spotlight features the Cherry Valley Memorial Library.

To the casual eye, the Cherry Valley Memorial Library may appear to be just another small building in a small village. There’s no denying the brick building has a physically small footprint (just under one thousand square feet); and, according to the most recent U.S. Census, the historic Otsego County village of Cherry Valley is home to approximately 500 residents.

But when you step back, the Cherry Valley Memorial Library—whose building cornerstone says ‘1923’—is a pretty big deal. On Halloween 2023, the library celebrated its centennial by welcoming folks out that evening with local donuts, local cider, free books…and, yes, with candy. The idea for this library was dreamed up by a group of determined women back in 1895: seeking to improve Cherry Valley daily life, they hauled books from one temporary library to another before obtaining a permanent library charter in 1907 and forming a construction committee in 1922.

Of course, the real “big deal” comes from thinking about that history and the continuous support of the local library by the thousands of visitors and supporters over the past century. (The library welcomes patrons far beyond the village limits: its service area includes the surrounding towns of Cherry Valley, Roseboom, Minden, Springfield, and Middlefield, for starters).

Last year, more than 4,000 items circulated, more than 2,000 visits were made to the library, and patrons enjoyed both physical and digital access. That contrasts with 1923, when an estimated 690 patrons borrowed books. Then and now, the library was open on Thursdays and Saturdays: these days, the library is also open Mondays and is working on adding more public hours.

Thanks to the Community Foundation of Otsego County, 21st century library visitors can sit comfortably outside the library in warmer weather. Last year, the Foundation supported the Library by funding year-round seating in the form of a “roll-up” accessible picnic table with room for a wheelchair. Library visitors can also sit outside and charge their phones and laptops on the Foundation-funded solar charging device, secured into the picnic table during nice weather.

While the long-ago ladies intent on improving Cherry Valley might not have been able to imagine wireless technology bringing reading materials to their handheld devices, they surely could conceive of their building with books bringing joy and comfort to their neighbors well into the next century.

Content provided by the Cherry Valley Memorial Library.