Library

After Van Gelder bought the 400 acres of land from the Leni Lenape Indians in 1738, he passed down the 400 acres full of animals and plants to Isaac Van Dusen. Then Isaac passed it to Stephen Sloat because he married Isaac’s daughter that got married Stephen Stoat. These people of the Van Dusen family branch one day would be famous in history for being owners of a village called Sloatsburg in Rockland County which is filled with varieties of Community Organizations! One Community Organization in the wonderful village of Sloatsburg is its own public library. Before the library was on Liberty Rock Road, right next to the strip mall, it was next to the Municipal Building. Before where the library stands today, it was a church called the St. Francis Episcopal Church. In 1974, since not many people came to worship, it got shut down. In the same year the Sloatsburg Public Library opened. Later a new children’s wing was added that was designed to blend with the original building. The Sloatsburg library has many programs to offer throughout the year. One of them is a bedtime stories program that starts at 7pm where adults read stories to kids of different ages. Another program is a movie program where people of all ages get to see exciting movies. Also there are some programs only for adults. The community benefits from the library. One way is from all the programs that are filled with fun for the family. The library has many other things to offer. One is that it has Indian artifacts. The local artifacts belonged to the first inhabitants of the area. The artifacts were found in the Spring House Rock Shelter in Sloatsburg. These artifacts are dated back as far as 5000 B.C. Also, there’s a satellite image of Sloatsburg that was donated by Mrs. Michael Guerrera. The library also had a display case exhibit for March of decorated egg collections. The Public Library has a Board of Trustees starting with the President, Rhoda Naderman. The Secretary is Christine Goldman, Vice President is Jane Thompson, and Treasurer is Joy O’Leary. Trustees are John Scanlon, George O’Dell, and Stephen Hoefer. The library also needs volunteers all the time. If you want to be a volunteer call the library at 845-753-2001. As you can see the library has come a long way!!! The library is more important to the village of Sloatsburg than getting books. One reason is if there is a movie you want to watch you can go to the library to borrow the movie. Another reason is that they have programs that teach people information. I am a member of the Sloatsburg Public Library and it helped me do this report.