Tottenville Library

The Tottenville Branch–From NYPL Digital Gallery-No date given.
The branch was renovated in 1993 and has new shelving, but the pattern of the shelving is the same. The chandeliers were gone the first time I clustered at Tottenville in the mid-1980s, replaced by ugly fluorescent lighting. Chandeliers were designed for the renovation. The designers worked from old photos. The circ desk has the same horseshoe shape, but it is in a different position. The front door is to the left of the picture.

  No, that isn’t a picture of me. (I drive a ‘99 Ford Escort)  Someone said it is one of the earlier branch librarians, but I think it may be a picture of Benjamin F. Joline, a Tottenville town resident who wrote a history of the town. I don’t know what year it is, but would guess somewhere from 1904 to 1920. There are now big trees in front of the branch.
 
 

From the NY City Landmarks Preservation Commission Study that Designated the Tottenville Branch a NY City Landmark, 1995) [Section 4 of 8] 
Carrere & Hastings
John Merven Carrere (1858-1911) was educated in Switzerland before entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1877. Thomas Hastings (1860-1929), born in New York, spent a short time at Columbia University before entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The future partners met in Paris, both earned their diplomas–Carrere in 1882, and Hastings in 1884–and entered the office of McKim, Mead & White, where they became reacquainted. In 1885, the two established a partnership in New York City. Encouraged by Henry Flagler, a partner in Standard Oil and a promoter interested in the development of Florida railroads and real estate, they designed and supervised the construction of chruches and hotels in Florida which reflected the Spanish Renaissance style and were innovative in their use of concrete. Their later hotels include the Laurel in the Pines Hotel (1889-90) at Lakewood, New Jersey, and the Hotel Jefferson (1893-94) in Richmond, Virginia. The firm’s later buildings were designed in the French Renaissance and Beaux-Arts styles, the latter exemplified in their winning competition design (1897) for the New York Public Library. The library (1898-1911, a designated Landmark) established Carrere & Hastings as one of the country’s leading architectural firms and a leading exponent of the Beaux-Arts style. The firm was also responsible for the design of at least thirteen Carnegie-funded libraries in New York, commissions awarded to the firm after the success of the main library building.
The highly prolific firm produced many other memorable designs which survive as designated New York City Landmarks. The First Church of Christ, Scientist (1899-1903) at the northwest corner of Central Park West and West 96th Street is in the finest tradition of Beaux-Arts classicism. The approaches and arch of the Manhattan Bridge (1905) and Grand Army Plaza (1913, a designated Scenic Landmark) show the firm’s interest in city planning. Richmond Borough Hall (1903-07), Staten Island, exhibits the firm’s predilection for the brick-and-stone architecture associated with early seventeenth-century France. In addition to monumental public architecture, Carrere & Hastings was very active in residential design; among the most highly regarded urban examples are the John Henry and Emily Vanderbilt Sloane Hammond Residence (1902-03) at 9 East 91st Street, which was inspired by Roman sixteenth-century palazzo design, and the Henry Clay and Adelaide Childs Frick Mansion (begun 1913-14) at 1 East 70th Street, modelled on eighteenth-century French sources. The firm is responsible for many large estates in the Northeast, as well as Woolsey and Memorial Halls (1906) at Yale University and the House and Senate Office buildings (1906) in Washington, D.C.
Carrere was a resident of Staten Island, and his firm’s work is well represented there, including the Kunhardt Mausoleum (1896) at Moravian Cemetery, dwellings at 110-144 Vanderbilt Avenue (1900), the Port Richmond Branch Library (1905), the St. George Library Center and Stapleton Branch Library (both 1907), the County Courthouse (1919), and the Hughes Memorial Branch Library (1928) in New Dorp, in addition to the  already mentioned Borough Hall and Tottenville Library.
Carrere was a member of the Architectural League of New York, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Beaux-Arts Society of New York, and director of the American Academy at Rome. He was killed in an accident in 1911. Hastings continued to work under the firm’s name, producing designs for large office buildings such as the Standard Oil Building (1920-26, with Shreve, Lamb & Blake) at 26 Broadway and the Cunard Building (1917-21, with Benjamin Wistar Morris) at 25 Broadway. Hastings was an early exponent of the curtain wall system of construction and experimented with it in the Blair Building (1902, demolished) at 24 Broad Street and Exchange Place. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a founder and a president of the Architectural League.

From the NY City Landmarks Preservation Commission Study that Designated the Tottenville Branch a NY City Landmark, 1995) [Section 3 of 8] 
New York Public Library and Andrew Carnegie
The New York Public Library, a private corporation providing library services under contract to the City of New York, is the product of an amalgamation first of several privately-owned libraries and, later, various free circulating libraries. The consolidation in 1895 of the excellent research facilities of the privately-owned Astor and Lenox Libraries (founded respectively by the will of John Jacob Astor in 1849 and by the famous book collector and philanthropist James Lenox in 1870) and the Tilden Trust (established in 1886 by the will of former governor of New York Samuel J. Tilden) formed the basis for the Reference Department. Meanwhile, the New York Free Circulating Library, established in 1878, incorporated two years later, and aided by public funds beginning in 1887, was supported initially by wealthy New Yorkers such as Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jacob H. Schiff and Henry G. Marquand, who were interested in encouraging the self-education of the poor and aiding the underprivileged. In 1901 the Free Circulating Library, which had grown to include eleven branches, was incorporated with several smaller free circulating libraries in the city to form the Circulation Department of the New York Public Library (now the Branch Libraries System). 
The Library branch system, which serves the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, owes most of its development to industrialist Andrew Carnegie, the exemplar of the self-made man. His philanthropic philosophy was spelled out in two articles published in 1889 in the North American Review and later reprinted as the title essay of his book, The Gospel of Wealth and Other Timely Essays (1901). Carnegie’s aim, “to help those who would help themselves,” would be achieved through “a free library…provided the community will accept and maintain it as a public institution, as much a part of the city property as it public schools, and, indeed, an adjunct to these.” As early as 1881 he had donated a library to his native town in Scotland and later to Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania communities. In New York, where he had lived since 1867, he served on the board of the Free Circulating Library beginning in 1893 and assisted in money-raising campaigns. In 1901 he sold his steel company to J.P.Morgan and began seeking a substantial philanthropy to which he could direct his attention and his wealth. Following the guarantee that the Public Library and the Free Circulating Library would merge, as Carnegie had advocated, he pledged $5.2 million for the establishment in New York City of sixty-five library branches (divided among the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Borough Library) to cost $80,000 each. For the three boroughs it served,  the New York Public Library would construct and equip the libraries with the Carnegie funds and operate them as free circulating libraries on lease from the city, which would maintain the properties. In November 1901, the New York Public Library agreed that architectural services for the anticipated buildings would be provided by three highly prestigious firms: Babb, Cook & Willard; McKim, Mead & White; and Carrere & Hastings. Carrere & Hastings received contracts for all four Carnegie libraries built on Staten Island. It was agreed that the Carnegie branches would embody a distinctive type, uniform in design, materials, general characteristcs, and scale; the resulting buildings were of superior architectural quality. Eventually Carnegie’s unprecedented beneficence totaled $65 million for approximately 2,900 libraries in the English-speaking world. 

(From the NY City Landmarks Preservation Commission Study that Designated the Tottenville Branch a NY City Landmark, 1995) [Section 2 of 8] 
The Tottenville Free Library
Early American libraries were associated with churches, towns (or school districts), colleges, or cooperative groups; during the latter half of the nineteenth century, the progressive free public library movement overshadowed those initiatives. On Staten Island, particularly following the Civil War, libraries slowly began to form with the development of literary and historical societies, two of which were based in Tottenville. In 1897 a group of women founded the Philemon club (later known as the Philemon Literary and Historical Society), to pursue their interest in literature, art, science, civics, philanthropy, and music; their male counterparts established the Philo Debating Society. Together they called a public meeting on February 6, 1899, at which time the Tottenville Library Association was organized. In the subsequent weeks, the Board of Trustees was established, a constitution adopted, and officers elected: Frank Joline (president), Mrs. Cynthia M. Little (vice president), Mrs. Mary Mason(secretary), Gilbert S. Barnes (treasurer), and Rev. J.C. Hendrickson; committees were appointed, by-laws adopted, and an application for a charter was made to the regents of the University of the State of New York. Mr. Joline, a United States customs official, solicited residents of the town for books, maps, charts, and related materials as well as for funds.
On April 29, 1899, the Tottenville Free Library opened to the public. It was the first free public library chartered for Richmond County by New York State. Its 230 volumes, mostly unbound, were housed in two rooms on the ground floor of a double house at 137 (now 204-206) Johnson Avenue, a frame structure featuring a full-width wood porch. Association vice president Cynthia M. Little and secretary Mary Mason were the first librarians. The state charter was received in June. A printed announcement from 1901 offers a detailed view of the fledging institution: following the appointment of Mrs. Leonara C. McCormack as librarian, the building was open Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 and
Reference books at the Library incude[d] a Standard Dictionary, a set of Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 20 volumes of “The World’s Best Literature,” Rand & McNally’s Atlas–and many other valuable works.
The Association especially urged library patrons to read “standard works” and permitted the use of the rooms as a common meeting-place, where, under proper restrictions, games of checkers and chess could be played, enabling Mr. Joline to posit, “Thus the sphere of a small library, can with good to a community, be extended beyond its ordinary limits.” By 1901, the Tottenville libarary had taken over the administration of a state traveling library located at the Prince’s Bay office of the S.S. White Dental Company plant.
In November 1900, supporters of the library began to discuss the purchase of land for a building site, so it is not surprising that the Association was poised to take advantage of intustrialist Andrew Carnegie’s offer to finance new buildings to be used as free, public circulation libraries.
 

(From the NY City Landmarks Preservation Commission Study that Designated the Tottenville Branch a NY City Landmark, 1995) [Section 1 of 8] 
History of Tottenville
The southwestern tip of Staten Island (Richmond County), once an important Native American habitation site and burial ground, has a recorded history which dates to the 1670s, when Captain Christopher Billopp built a stone manor house (the Billopp or Conference House, a designated New York City Landmark) and initiated ferry service to Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Billopp’s plantation, later enlarged and given the title “Manor of Bentley,” was the largest holding in the West Division (later renamed Westfield Township), one of the four precincts into which the county was divided. Following the Revolution, the Billopp property was confiscated by the State of New York, partitioned, and sold; it continued to be used largely for farming and as a base for fishing and associated maritime trades. Gradually the land was subdivided into smaller lots and by the 1840s a hamlet began to form around the ferry landing and the nearby sections of Amboy Road, the path leading to it. The slow-growing settlement soon came to be known as Tottenville, after the prominent family who had erected a wharf, Totten’s Landing. Many local residents were engaged in the oyster business and ship-building, which remained leading occupations and mainstays of the area economy into the 1920s, while the waterfront setting and frequent steamer and ferry connections prompted the development of small summer resorts, restaurants, hotels, and other recreation businesess.
The completion in 1860 of the Staten Island Railroad, which ran from Vanderbilt’s Landing on the island’s east shore to a depot near the hamlet’s ferry landing, establishing an important link between the developing village and the rest of the island, spurred the growth of an adjacent commercial area. During the subsequent decade, a post office was begun and soon named Tottenville, and the hamlet was officially incorporated as a village–the only one to be chartered on the island’s southern and western sections. The village, re-incorporated in 1894, reached a peak of development at the close of the nineteenth century, when many commercial and civic institutions–such as the Tottenville Free Library, several weekly newspapers, the Atlantic Terra Cotta works, and Tottenville Copper Company–were established. From the 1870s through much of the present century, Tottenville has been the largest, most populous, and most cohesive settlement in the southern section of Staten Island and has retained its individuality as a suburban village.

The Tottenville Historical Society will discuss the findings of the Tottenville Historic Resource Survey, a study of 250+ of the oldest homes and buildings in the community, including the process of dating them using deeds, maps, and, in many cases, by identification of their distinctive architectural details.
The program will begin with a brief slide presentation showing several unique local homes and buildings, followed by a discussion and a question and answer period.
An announcement of the forthcoming book, Tottenville: the Town the Oyster Built. A Staten Island Community, Its People, Industry and Architecture, will be made.
This program will be at the Tottenville Branch on Thursday, November 29 at 4:00PM.
I saw this slide program in June at the Historical Society’s annual meeting, and it was absolutely wonderful!

The Tottenville Historical Society put together a display titled “We Honor Our Veterans” that is on the display shelf in the branch on the first floor. There is a picture of Civil War Veterans marching in a parade, along with some other pictures. Also included is a program from the dedication of a World War II monument that was on Main Street. I believe that Linda Hauck, the president of the society, said that the monument disappeared when it was sent in for repairs in the 1950s. (It was made out of wood, I think.)
They are also trying to collect data on any men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces from the Tottenville, Richmond Valley, and Charleston communities. If library staff know anyone who fits that bill, I can help get them in touch with Linda. 

Yesterday I spoke with Linda Hauck, president of the Tottenville Historical Society, about doing a program at the branch. I attended their annual meeting back in June, and she presented a slide show of historical houses in Tottenville, which was done in conjunction with the Preservation League of Staten Island. At the time I told Linda that I thought this would be a great program to do at the branch, and she agreed. It was a wonderful overview of older homes in the Tottenville area. Stay tuned for more information.

Tottenville’s first book discussion of the season will be this coming Monday at 7PM. There are still a few copies of the book available if anyone else wants to sign up. The book is The Rules of Engagement by Anita Brookner. It is a fast reading book, so if someone signs up now I’m sure they can finish it by next Monday.
I am looking forward to the discussion. It is a very interesting, although not very happy, story.

We had a really nice music program on Saturday, thanks to SI Boro Adult Specialist Kelly Yim, which was a performance by the two person acoustic  band called “The Hum.” They are from Staten Island, and they have played together for about 15 years. They played for about an hour, and I thought they sounded really good. They are working on a CD which they said would be out soon. They are appearing at Richmondtown this coming Saturday, and I think a few other branches in the coming weeks.

Today there will be a reading aloud program at 2:30, which Linda will do.
Security Lights–The light over the front door is out, as well as one of the six lights that are near the roof. I put a work order in yesterday.
There has been some email discussion about recent problems with teens and the fire that was started, as to how best address this issue. I will let you know what is going on as I learn more.
Judy is going to try to get Target to donate gift certificates which we can give to the winners of the bake-off that is taking place on Saturday, Sept. 15. There seems to be a tremendous interest in this. Thank you, Paula, for taking the lead on this, and thanks also to Judy.
I assigned Shari to weed the adult section, 600 to 900.
Remember, next week we will be open 12-8 on Thursday, and on Friday we will be open 10-6, and the following Monday will be 12-8 also.
Congratulations and good luck to our three pages, Charles, Lauren, and Sarah who are starting their college studies this week at CSI!

The Children’s Summer Reading Club Party will take place this coming Friday, Aug 24.  As in recent years it will be a drop-in party, mainly handled by volunteers.  There will also be a program at 1:00PM for participants in the club.  Preregistration is required.  The program is “Gustafer Yellowgold” who is “the friendly creature who comes to Earth from the sun.”  It should be an active afternoon!