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Mission Statement

The Shelter Island Public Library Society’s mission is to provide state-of-the art resources and services to meet the current and evolving needs of the community. It is the town’s primary year-round information and cultural resource for both residents and visitors. The library’s staff and board of trustees work to ensure a focus on materials, services, programs, events, and activities that promote education, information, entertainment, and the arts for the benefit of all segments of the community. Key audiences include adults, children of all ages, students, and seniors, as well as patrons with special needs, including the visually impaired, the physically handicapped, and those for whom English is a second language.

A Brief History

From the beginning, the Shelter Island library has been the recipient of generous donations and gifts from community residents. Its first library was created in 1885 through the efforts of Professor Eben Norton Horsford, a Harvard professor and friend of many literary lights of his day. Professor Horsford married a descendant of Shelter Island’s founding family and went on to become lord of Sylvester Manor. He donated 280 volumes for the first library, which was initially housed in a closet in the Old Store, a building located not far from the present library that functioned as a post office, telegraph station, and local meeting place. After the store burned down in 1891, a new library for more books donated by Professor Horsford was built on a nearby lot donated by his daughter Lilian, and his daughter Cornelia became the library’s first president. In 1896, the Shelter Island Public Library joined the New York State Board of Regents to become a certified library. By the early 1960s, the island's population had grown to more than a thousand residents, and a newer, larger library was needed. Another prominent Shelter Island family, the Tuthills, donated the lot where the present building stands. A group of public-spirited organizations and citizens, including the Shelter Island Lions Club and Board of Trustees President and Lord of Sylvester Manor, Andrew Fiske, led a community-wide fund drive to raise the needed $70,000 for construction. On August 14, 1965 the new Shelter Island Public Library was dedicated .

Library Administration

Director: Denise DiPaolo  ddipaolo@suffolk.lib.ny.us

Assistant Director: Laura Dickerson lauradi@suffolk.lib.ny.us

Board of Trustees

Jo-Ann Robotti, President
Howard Brandenstein, President Emeritus
Brenda Bergman, Vice President
Dorothy Desbonnet, Treasurer
Joanne Sherman, Secretary
Wade Badger
Joan Bishop
Phyllis Gates
Ellen Gove
Paul Mobius
David Rosenberg
Melina Wein