About Us

Annual Report June 2009 - May 2010


Trustees & Staff

Trustees

Byron Bell
Laurence Bergreen
Charles G. Berry
Ralph S. Brown Jr.
Robert A. Caro
Lyn Chase
Henry S.F. Cooper Jr.
William J. Dean
George Frelinghuysen
James Q. Griffin
Shirley Hazzard
John K. Howat
Ellen Iseman
Anthony D. Knerr
Linn Cary Mehta
Ada Peluso
Jean Parker Phifer
Susan L. Robbins
Theodore C. Rogers
Daniel M. Rossner
Jeannette Watson Sanger
Betty Kelly Sargent
Barbara H. Stanton

Staff

FULL-TIME
Mark Bartlett
Susan Chan
Jane Goldstein
Matthew C. Haugen
Endang Hertanto
Sara Holliday
Janet Howard
Steven McGuirl
John McKeown
Laura O'Keefe
Patrick Rayner
Ingrid Richter
Diane Srebnick
Brandi Tambasco
Carolyn Waters

PART-TIME
Harry Abarca
Alan Behler
Arevig Caprielian
Anastasia Chiu
Timothy Conley
Andrew Corbin
Ashley Febus
Latria Graham
Andrea Griffith
Rachel Henry
Marie Honan
George Muñoz
Heather Paulson
Peri Pignetti
Linnea Holman Savapoulas
Harriet Shapiro
Carrie Silberman
Derek Stadler
Paulina M. Valdez
Stanley Weinman
Lawrence R. Yates
Joan U. Zimmett

VOLUNTEERS
Jules Cohn
Edmèe Reit


 

Library Committees

(June 2009 - May 2010)

Executive Committee

Charles G. Berry, Chair
George L.K. Frelinghuysen, Treasurer
Daniel M. Rossner, Secretary
Ralph S. Brown, Jr.
Barbara H. Stanton

Audit Committee

Ralph S. Brown, Jr., Chair
George L.K. Frelinghuysen
Daniel M. Rossner

Finance Committee

George L.K. Frelinghuysen, Chair
Mark Bartlett
Ralph S. Brown, Jr.
James Q. Griffin
Anthony D. Knerr
Daniel Rossner
Barbara H. Stanton

Development Committee

George L.K. Frelinghuysen, Chair
Mark Bartlett
Charles G. Berry
Lyn Chase
William J. Dean
John K. Howat
Ellen M. Iseman
Anthony D. Knerr
Edward C. Lord
Roger Pasquier
Susan Robbins
Theodore C. Rogers
Daniel M. Rossner
Jeannette Watson Sanger
Betty Kelly Sargent
Diane Srebnick
Barbara H. Stanton
Joan U. Zimmett

Nominating Committee

Ada Peluso, Chair
Lyn Chase
Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr.
George L.K. Frelinghuysen
Ellen M. Iseman
Linn Cary Mehta
Jean Parker Phifer
Jeannette Watson Sanger
Barbara H. Stanton

Building and Renovation Committee

Jean Parker Phifer, Chair
Mark Bartlett
Byron Bell
Ralph S. Brown, Jr.
Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr.
William J. Dean
Jane Goldstein
Barbara H. Stanton

Lecture and Exhibition Committee

Jeannette Watson Sanger, Chair
Mark Bartlett
Lyn Chase
Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr.
William J. Dean
Sara Elliott Holliday
Ellen M. Iseman
Jenny Lawrence
Ada Peluso
Betty Kelly Sargent
Harriet Shapiro

Book Committee

Daniel M. Rossner, Chair
Marilyn Bender Altschul
Richard Aspinwall
Mark Bartlett
Lucienne Bloch
Lyn Chase
Jules Cohn
Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr.
Laura Cowin
Peggy Edsall
Benita Eisler
Helen Evarts
Kerry Fried
Linda Fritzinger
Malcolm Goldstein
Shirley Hazzard
Steven McGuirl
Sarah Plimpton
Cynthia Saltzman

Children's Library Committee

Susan Robbins, Chair
Andrea Labov Clark
Peggy Ellis
Carolyn Goodrich
Jan Grossman
Rachel Henry
Pat Langer
Louise Monjo
Heather Paulson
Raul Piñeda
Jenny Price
Jeannette Watson Sanger
Carrie Silberman
Edra Ziesk

New York City Book Awards Committee

Mark Bartlett, Co-Chair
Roger Pasquier, Co-Chair
Laurence Bergreen
Lucienne Bloch
Barbara Cohen
Jules Cohn
Joe Drape
John Hargraves
Bobbie Leigh
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
Cynthia Saltzman
Meg Wolitzer

Member Relations

Jane Goldstein, Co-Chair
Linn Cary Mehta, Co-Chair
Richard Aspinwall
Ralph S. Brown, Jr.
Jules Cohn
J.S. Ellenberger
Gayle Feldman
Maggie Jackson
Daniel M. Rossner
Kenneth Wang

Project Cicero Organizing Committee

Laureine Greenbaum, Co-Chair
Susan L. Robbins, Co-Chair
Silda Wall, Co-Chair
Lynn Abraham
Rona Berg
DeDe Brown
Andrea Labov Clark
Liz DeSario
Roz Edelman
Peggy Ellis
Linda Gelfond
Pamela Hayman
Pat Langer
JoAnn Goodspeed
Stephen Goodspeed
Penny Gorman
Carolyn McGown
Ellen Hay Newman
Stephanie Peraffan
Christy Porter
Cynthia Rothman
Jeryl Rothschild
Carrie Silberman
Sarabeth Spitzer
Matthew Weinstein


 

Library Awards

(June 2009-May 2010)

The Fourteenth Annual New York City Book Awards, 2009

The New York City Book Awards, established in 1995-96, honor books of literary quality or historical importance that, in the opinion of the selection committee, evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City.

  • AWARD FOR SOCIAL HISTORY:
    Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope Along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx
    Constance Rosenblum
    (New York University Press)
  • AWARD FOR HISTORY:
    The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: New York's River Festival of 1909 and the Making of a Metropolis
    Kathleen Eagen Johnson
    (Fordham University Press)
  • AWARD FOR VISUAL HISTORY:
    Mapping New York
    Editors Phoebe Adler, Tom Howells and Duncan McCorquodale, designer Emily Chicken
    (Black Dog Publishing Ltd.)
  • AWARD FOR CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:
    Mitzvah Girls: Bringing up the Next Generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn
    Ayala Fader
    (Princeton University Press)
  • AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE:
    The Row House Reborn: Architecture and Neighborhoods in New York City, 1908-1929
    Andrew Scott Dolkart
    (Johns Hopkins University Press)

 

The Eighth Annual Young Writers Awards, 2010

The Young Writers Awards honor excellent writing by young Library members. Entries this year include essays, short stories, and poems on a variety of topics.

WINNERS:

Jacob Aufzien, Pickle Rage
Annabel Barry, Snow Flight
Philip Clark, In the Shadow of the Cross
Silver Liftin, A Hump of Gold
Gautama Mehta, Clearing a Field
Mary Miller, Knitting
Emma Yeston, Katelyn and Will's Great Adventure

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Isabel H. Adler, the
Grace Alexandra Chiong, An Osprey in a Tree
Anna Hitchcock, Civil War Journal
Asher Liftin, Poem in Three Views
Bryson D. Wiese, I Am From...


 

Report of the Chairman

Charles G. Berry

(June 2009 - May 2010)

Welcome to the 242nd annual meeting of The New York Society Library. I'm pleased to report on how the Library is doing from my perspective and to express my appreciation for some of the many people whose dedication and contributions make the Library the vibrant institution it continues to be.

Last year at this time the stock markets were just beginning to show signs of life after one of their bleakest periods. Our portfolio now has recovered quite well, although not to the levels it enjoyed before the onset of the financial crisis. What has been most heartening, however, is the buoyancy of spirit that has guided our Library and its members and staff during this time. The events that have shaken our world have caused us all to reflect on the priorities in our lives. And it is refreshing to appreciate how important the New York Society Library is for all of us. Our staff under the leadership of Mark Bartlett has shown energy, intelligence and enthusiasm in guiding our members into the digital age while ensuring our enjoyment of the books in our thoughtfully selected collection. We have expanded our programs to include a wide range of authors and subjects and even theatrical and musical events. Our physical plant, while at times and in places straining to capacity, is well maintained, and we are pursuing prudent plans to maximize the use of our space.

I'd like to mention a few developments of particular interest. Although we are still holding in reserve our ambitious plans to build out the sixth floor - for which we have all necessary city agency approvals, but not yet the requisite funding - we will proceed this summer with some important projects. First, we will fill in the light well spaces on the third, fourth and fifth floors, expanding the usable area on each of those floors and enabling us to implement a more rational design for each floor. On the fifth floor, which has become increasingly popular with our many writer members, we will be able to have six private writing rooms and an enlarged main writing room accommodating several more writers than at present.

The building out of the light well and refurbishing of the fifth Floor is made possible by the generosity of the Marshall Hornblower Trust, through the good offices of his daughter, Jenny Lawrence, our former board member who continues to dedicate enormous creativity, energy and resources to programs aimed at promoting the work of writers. We look forward to celebrating completion of the fifth floor improvements and all that Jenny and her father's trust have done for our writers and other users of the library.

The other important capital project we plan to undertake this summer is the installation of handicapped access in our main entrance stairway. This has been a particularly challenging design issue but our architects - under the capable supervision of Jean Phifer, chair of our Building and Renovation Committee, and fellow architect and board member Byron Bell - have found a solution. Over the summer we will install a wheelchair lift along the west wall of the entrance in a manner aimed to preserve the graceful flow of the marble steps while facilitating easy access to those who are unable to climb the stairs. This long overdue improvement is underwritten by the bequest from the Estate of Marian O. Naumburg, about which we reported last year, and it will provide a resource that all of our members will applaud.

These improvements are to be built out during the summer months. We will have to close the Library for at least several weeks, particularly while the entrance is made handicapped accessible. We will make every effort to minimize disruption and ask the forbearance of our members while these important improvements are undertaken.

The filling in of the light wells on the third and fourth floors will for now provide only raw, unfinished space on those two floors. Our hope is to attract funding to enable us to build them out with finished space: to expand the children's library on the third floor, and the offices of our staff on the fourth. Both are significant priorities for us, and we are working to make those realities, within our budget constraints.

While I am on the subject of the children's library, let me mention how active that has been under the capable guidance of our children's librarian, Carrie Silberman. Not only has there been significantly greater usage of the library and circulation of children's books in recent years, but our sponsorship of the ground-breaking outreach program Project Cicero continues to provide hundreds of thousands of books for public school classrooms. In March I had the pleasure of observing firsthand the enterprising operation whereby our volunteers and scores of others assemble and organize by topic and age level huge numbers of books for distribution to public school classroom teachers. In the ballroom and adjacent spaces of the Hotel Pennsylvania, across Seventh Avenue from Penn Station, the books are arranged on tables in categories such as history, biography and fiction, and the schoolteachers line up to have an hour or so each to select books of interest to their students. They then pack the books up in suitcases with wheels and cart them off. Our board member Susan Robbins is one of the founders of this project and continues to oversee the operations with Carrie Silberman and others. The spirit is wonderfully cheerful and positive. Everyone is busy and productive, and the project is executed with the precision of a well-oiled machine.

The spirit of this important civic undertaking exemplifies the dedication and service that our staff shows in their hard work for our members. They are the key to providing a sense of community for all of us. It is not just that we provide a place to get away that is regularly described as a refuge, haven or oasis. We are not an isolated cave or tropical island but a kind of comfortable academy populated by like-minded searchers and tactful guides who know our tastes and needs. They preserve our distinguished heritage while directing us to a better understanding of our present world.

And this past year has given me a deeper appreciation not only of the sense of belonging to the library that our staff promotes for our members but also the strong ties among our staff that underlie the sense of community they share. Their support for one another during difficult times has been brought home to me on several occasions, and we are indeed fortunate to have a staff that cares as much as they do for one another as they do for the Library and its members to whom they give such thoughtful service. The leadership of Mark Bartlett, with the help of Jane Goldstein, has fostered the spirit of the Library that makes staff and members alike feel at home here.

I would also like to acknowledge the dedication of our board, which, as I have said before, it is a great privilege and pleasure to know and work with. It is heartening to have a common bond of love of books and culture and expanding one's intellectual horizons, as all of our board do. This past year we were pleased to welcome a new member to the board, Betty Sargent, a writer, publisher and philanthropist and former chair of our sister institution, the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction: her energy and enthusiasm have already been evident since she joined the board a few months ago. Betty followed our longtime board member Connie Rogers Roosevelt, who helped establish and then for many years headed our New York City Book Awards committee, which has focused on one of the Library's great strengths as a repository of books written in and about our great city. We thank Connie for all her hard work and support and know she will continue to be a dedicated and appreciative user of the library as she pursues graduate studies at Columbia in conservation biology.

There are too many others I would like to acknowledge, but I would be remiss if I did not single out our treasurer George Frelinghuysen, who also has kindly assumed the task of heading our Development Committee. He has helped us achieve good success on that front with the able help of Joan Zimmett and Diane Srebnick. Thanks also to Bill Dean, our former board chair, who has helped organize and lead the newly formed Goodhue Society, established to recognize those who have provided for the Library in their wills and estate planning - something I encourage all our members to consider. Historically, this has been a key source of support, particularly the bequest of Sarah Parker Goodhue in 1917, which made possible the purchase of our present building and provided the core of our endowment.

Last week I attended an interesting talk by Alice Prochaska, who is stepping down as University Librarian of the rich and diverse libraries at Yale University to become the head of Somerville College at Oxford. She spoke of the challenges facing Yale's libraries in the age of the Internet, and it was remarkable to hear how similar the challenges she has faced are to those we at the Society Library deal with on a smaller scale. She told of running out of space for books and arranging offsite storage; the achievement of retrospective conversion of their catalogue (a task our trustee Barbara Stanton helped us accomplish in timely fashion some years ago); the increasing allocation of funds to electronic resources; and the challenge of dealing with shrinking budgets at a time of massive cutbacks.

A few helpful messages rang through in Ms. Prochaska's talk. She underscored the importance for libraries of embracing all formats, both harnessing the power and inevitability of electronic materials and systems and cherishing and cultivating the pleasure and importance of the printed book. She also spoke of the need libraries fulfill as physical spaces, not just as repositories for books but as gathering places for intellectual stimulation, reflection, writing and reading - particularly important in a day and age when the Internet tends to isolate us at the very time it provides electronic connection. And especially meaningful to me was Ms. Prochaska's emphasis on the importance of maintaining a skilled, educated and capable staff, which she identified as the primary ingredient of a successful library.

The multiple roles that the Society Library fills in our lives was nicely illustrated by the flurry of news reports this past weekend about the apparent failure of the nation's first president to return two books to our circulation desk in the early days of the Republic, in 1789. What is remarkable about this story is not just the neat irony that the man who could tell no lie seems to have neglected to return a library book or pay a fine for failing to do so. What is most interesting is how the germ of the news story was incubated and disseminated. Our own Carolyn Waters was having dinner with a friend who works for the Daily News and was telling him about our charging ledger and the evident fact that two books checked out to President Washington (Emer de Vattel's The Law of Nations and a volume of British Parliamentary debates) are no longer in our collection. The reporter wrote quite a charming piece about it, which was also disseminated in the online version of the News. From there it was picked up by television and radio stations and circulated around the globe. Television camera crews showed up on our doorstep, and the story was reported by bloggers and media as far away as the BBC (which interviewed Mark Bartlett for two of their radio broadcasts) and the paper of record in Nigeria. All this within the course of two days. It took the Library 150 years to notice Washington's discrepancy and another 75 years to document it from our charging ledger, but a matter of hours to ricochet through the electronic information ether.

So just as we are proud of our association with our founding fathers, we are subject to the speed and lack of control over the dissemination of information through the Internet. I am confident that we can and will both cherish our heritage and embrace the power of electronic information, while preserving the spirit that makes us a unique cultural resource.

Respectfully submitted,

Charles G. Berry,
Chairman


 

Report of the Librarian

Mark Bartlett

(June 2009 - May 2010)

According to Christopher Gray's March 2010 "Streetscapes" column in The New York Times, The New York Society Library is the city's oldest cultural institution, and it continues to be an honor to serve as its eighteenth Head Librarian. Thanks are due to the Board of Trustees and especially to chairman Charles G. Berry for their stewardship. This year the Board honored Constance Rogers Roosevelt for her eleven years of service as she stepped down, and we were glad to add Betty Kelly Sargent and the Library's good friend Ada Peluso.

The staff make this Library the wonderful place that it is. They provide many of the reasons why patrons keep coming back. I would like to thank all staff members for their service and professionalism over the past year - a year that has not been without challenges, surprises, and opportunities. We particularly thank porter Harry Abarca who stepped in as acting building superintendent, and comptroller Stanley Weinman for helping keep the Library's finances in order. It is always a pleasure to congratulate staff members who receive their Masters in Library and Information Science: this year our bumper crop includes Andrew Corbin, Matthew Haugen, Rachel Henry, Heather Paulson, Derek Stadler, and Brandi Tambasco.

Highlights of the Year

Our Writing Life series for member writers, ably organized by Carolyn Waters, has come into its own since October, when we offered the Library's first Open Mic Night. It was so popular, both among readers and listeners, that we held a second one in March, and we are grateful to our two hosts, Caitlin Macy and Toni Schlesinger. The events provided a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of what Library members are working on and to meet and mingle with fellow writers and Library members. This will become a tradition.

In January, the Library held its first ever Literary Magazine Salon, hosted by former trustee Jenny Lawrence. It was a memorable evening of readings that introduced the audience to three vibrant American literary magazines. Writers Terese Svoboda, Cathy Park Hong, and John Wray read portions of their work previously published in the magazines One Story, jubilat, and A Public Space, and mingled with members and guests over wine and refreshments.

The beautiful exhibition currently on display in the Assunta, Ignazio, Ada and Romano Peluso Exhibition Gallery has given us an opportunity to celebrate perhaps our foremost literary couple with words, images, and activities. Literary Lives: The World of Francis Steegmuller and Shirley Hazzard outlines the lives, relationship, and careers of these two important writers; Mr. Steegmuller was a Library member for decades and Ms. Hazzard, of course, has been a trustee since 1974. The opening reception on March 24 drew a large number of guests to see the exhibition and hear remarks by Farrar, Straus & Giroux publisher Jonathan Galassi and Ms. Hazzard herself. The handsome catalog includes a substantial interview with Ms. Hazzard and 40 rare photographs, some of them taken by Francis Steegmuller. We also honored Ms. Hazzard at an April concert by Opus Nine Ensemble of classical music from the worlds she and Mr. Steegmuller lived in and wrote about. Head of Exhibitions Harriet Shapiro was the major force behind Literary Lives, with the support of the Lecture and Exhibition Committee.

The New York City Book Awards were presented by special guest host Adam Gopnik on May 5. The five winners, with books showing diverse facets of our city, were Constance Rosenblum for Boulevard of Dreams, Kathleen Eagen Johnson for The Hudson-Fulton Celebration, Black Dog Publishing for Mapping New York, Ayala Fader for Mitzvah Girls, and Andrew Scott Dolkart for The Row House Reborn. We thank new awards jury chair Roger Pasquier and all the jury members for their thoughtful winnowing of the hundreds of New York books published each year.

May 19 was a particularly exciting day for the Library. In the morning, we hearkened back to 1789, when George Washington took out Emer de Vattel's The Law of Nations and a volume of British parliamentary debates and did not return them. Hearing this anecdote, Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens volunteered to replace the Vattel with another copy of the same edition. This was received at a small press event that morning, and the story was thereafter covered in newspapers and blogs around the world.

In the evening, we held our eighth annual Young Writers Awards, generously underwritten again this year by Jeanette Sarkisian Wagner and Dr. Paul Wagner. I'd like to thank Library members Robert Quackenbush, Carol Weston and Edra Ziesk, who all serve on the jury along with Dave Johnson.

The last highlight that deserves mention is the official launch of the Goodhue Society, bringing together and honoring those who have chosen to include the Library in their estate plans. A lovely reception was held on June 9, with Christopher Gray giving remarks about founding spirit Sarah Parker Goodhue (Mrs. Charles Clarkson Goodhue), whose 1917 bequest enabled us to acquire our landmark building. Director of Development Joan Zimmett, Membership and Development Assistant Diane Srebnick, and Goodhue Society chair William J. Dean were the movers and shakers on this.

Membership and Circulation

In the calendar year 2009, our members were busy readers. We circulated close to 98,000 volumes, an increase of 9.3% from 2008. Fifteen percent of the year's circulation was from the more than 10,000 titles in the Children's Library. Recent prize-winning novels circulated heavily; these included Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, member Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, and member Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge. Mystery and thriller readers lined up for all three novels in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, and new books by Charles Todd, Joseph Finder, and Louise Penny were also very popular. Among nonfiction, readers picked up new biographies of John Cheever and Ayn Rand, as well as The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes.

There were 3,158 memberships at the close of 2009, also a somewhat higher number than the previous year's. A welcome addition to the membership came from the Rudolf Steiner School. In an effort to aid their research projects, the school bought each of its 43 juniors and seniors an educational membership while retaining its school membership for younger learners.

The Circulation Department's many valued services include Susan Chan's work with our housebound and long-distance patrons. Susan distributed over three hundred packages to forty-seven households in 2009.

As our patrons' interests diversify, we rely on Brandi Tambasco to reach out through interlibrary loan for titles we are not able to acquire. In 2009 we borrowed 341 items from 140 libraries in 31 states, an increase of just under 10%. Our resources, meanwhile, came to the aid of 186 readers at 122 libraries in 30 states. British mysteries that failed to find an American publisher are the most popular items borrowed from us.

Collections: Print, Digital, and Art

The increased number of readers found an increased number of books to choose from. Through the work of Steven McGuirl, Janet Howard and Carolyn Waters, the Library acquired a total of 4,373 items in 2009. This is a slight decline from 2008, but includes significant additions such as 57 audio books, 49 new large print books, 97 scholarly works on the Renaissance and Middle Ages from the collection of Patricia L. Labalme, and a lovely 1833 collection of Sir Walter Scott's novels. Following a substantial review by the Books Committee of the Library's periodical subscriptions, we added new magazines including American Theater, The Journal of Modern History, Fanfare, and The American Journal of Sociology.

Perhaps the most exciting Acquisitions aspects were our new book funds. Thanks to the generosity of members, four funds activated in 2009 will provide significant relief for book buying budgets over the next few years. These were The Penelope K. Bardel Book Fund for English and American literature, Newman's Own (organized by A.E. Hotchner), the Claude Labouret Book Collection for French literature and nonfiction in English translation, and the Barbara B. Stern Book Fund for contemporary and mystery fiction.

The Cataloging Department did the backstage work on bringing these new books to the shelves, adding a total of 4,462 titles to the online catalog. Cataloging staff, led by Laura O'Keefe, also made books easier to find by enhancing and updating records, adapting Library of Congress- suggested changes in listing series, and many other tasks. Rare Book Librarian Arevig Caprielian reshelved, and in some cases freshly cataloged, the handsome old editions in the Members' Room and worked closely with Harriet Shapiro on the exhibition.

With Matthew Haugen's assistance, Laura O'Keefe continued work on the Hammond Collection of early 19th century books; as of March, 760 Hammond titles were in the catalog, about two thirds of the collection. Nine books were encountered in this collection for which the Library holds the only known extant copy. These include the Dublin edition of Exhibitions of the Heart by A.A. Hutchinson (P. Wogan et al., 1800), The Platonic Guardian, or, History of an Orphan, by a lady (London: Minerva Press, 1787), and what is apparently the first English translation of August von Kotzebue's Geschichte meines Vaters (The History of my Father, or, How it Happened that I was Born: A Romance) (London: W. Treppass, 1798).

One of the more interesting recent discoveries is that our Library has two notes in the hand of William Makepeace Thackeray, attached to our copy of the first English edition of his The Four Georges (London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1861). When these notes were published in a 1994 collection of Thackeray's letters, the editor gave their location as "unknown," so we are pleased to be able to bring their whereabouts to light.

Next door in the Conservation Department, George Muñoz treated over 275 books and other objects, performing treatments such as paper repair, map lining, board reattachment, and rebinding. George was also busy with an ongoing program of preventative care including environmental monitoring of temperature and relative humidity in the stacks.

The Systems Department also made advances in bringing patrons together with the books and information they need. Software was installed on the public web computers to help members monitor their time. Ingrid Richter, Head of Systems, and staff Matthew Haugen and Derek Stadler, with the assistance of Tim Conley and Peri Pignetti, digitized many historic Library documents and about 313 rare ornamental covers, which can be seen in the catalog. Systems and other staffers shared their knowledge on matters technical through workshops in October and April, on such topics as Google Docs, Introduction to Blogging, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Mobile Internet. As before, member reviews were positive: "Very helpful introduction," "A great service...for someone my age," "I'm a rank amateur but it was a great start," and "Thank you for having such interesting and useful workshops."

The Library's main website continued to grow. Interestingly, the images from Shelter Sketch Book by Henry Moore, an important item from the Sharaff/Sze Collection, was second only to the homepage in popularity. Most of its hits came through Google image searches from the UK and US.

By working in the Library we get a bird's-eye view of what people read today, but this past year we have also been studying what 18th century members borrowed and read. A much appreciated grant from the Delmas Foundation allowed us to analyze and describe the Library's First Charging Ledger (1789 to 1792). We have learned some interesting things doing thorough analysis of the ledger. Reverend William Linn (235 volumes), Elizabeth De Peyster (83 volumes), and Richard Varick (75 volumes) were all busy readers. Several women were registered as members under their own names, including Catherine Bradford, Elizabeth De Peyster, Sarah Franklin, Isabella Graham, Sarah Livingtson, Beulah Murray, Elizabeth Parker, Ann Pierce, Catharine L. Smith, Mary Walton, and Henrietta Maria Colden. Mrs. Colden was a prominent widow in the city of New York. She was well acquainted with the Hamiltons and the Burrs. Mrs. Colden read a variety of titles, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Works, Oliver Goldsmith's History of the Earth and Animated Nature, James Ferguson's Lectures on Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Optics, and a novel by Jean Jacques Rutlidge with a rather peculiar title, The Englishman's Fortnight in Paris; or, the Art of Ruining Himself There in a Few Days. Rutlidge's principal claim to fame is that he was a promoter of English literature in France. I would like to thank all the members of the ledger project team, Arevig Caprielian, Tim Conley, Matthew Haugen, George Muñoz, Laura O'Keefe, Peri Pignetti, Ingrid Richter, and Derek Stadler, for their work on this great project. As of this writing, we will be having a charging ledger launch event this December and the ledger website will be available to members and the general public.

The Library has such rich and varied collections, but I can still be surprised by what we do not have. This past year we added a new item to the art collection. The story is this: Lars Krogh of New Haven, Connecticut, offered to sell the Library an original pen and ink drawing of our University Place building, our home from 1856-1937. The lovely drawing is by Vernon Howe Bailey, a Camden, New Jersey-born artist (1874-1925) who studied at the Pennsylvania Museum School and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. His best known drawings are of street scenes in London, Oxford, Cambridge, and New York. The New York Sun commissioned a daily series of drawings called "Intimate Sketches of New York City." The drawing is a beautiful item and one that we were able to purchase with the financial support of our anonymous archives fund, established in 2008. (Mr. Krogh, who kindly offered Bailey's drawing to us, is the grandson of William T. Dewert, who was the Publisher and Editor of The New York Sun.)

Events for Readers and Writers

The Author Series, the anchor of our calendar, both continued and changed from previous years. The focus, as before, was on new books of interest to the populations of the Library and WNET/Thirteen, with some emphasis on history and current events. The speakers were Dr. James Orbinski, former head of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, on his memoir An Imperfect Offering; Caroline Alexander on The War That Killed Achilles, Hannah Pakula on The Last Empress, her biography of Madame Chiang Kaishek; Andrew Ross Sorkin on the financial crisis with Too Big to Fail, and A.E. Hotchner, with Mark Singer, on his memoir about actor and humanitarian Paul Newman. We were delighted with the opportunity to relocate the series to the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, an ideal venue both in size and location.

Lectures in the Members' Room continued their strong and diverse tradition, with speakers including Cynthia Saltzman on art history with Old Masters, New World; William Jay Smith reading and discussing his poetry in celebration of his 90th birthday; Robert B. Strassler on his masterful editions of Herodotus and Xenophon, and Anka Muhlstein on Marcel Proust's reading. Somewhat more miscellaneous were the Library's first event on the science and culture of dogs, with Alexandra Horowitz on Inside of a Dog, and our first on sports journalism, with H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger. If books can cover any topic, so can lectures.

Performances in the Members' Room only gain in breadth and popularity. We were proud to host three evenings of the short plays of Joyce Carol Oates in October, organized by dedicated member Bill Connington and featuring a visit by Ms. Oates herself. We were also glad to welcome Affinity Collaborative Theater's second reading of W.H. Auden's For the Time Being, as well as readings from in-process libretti by new friends the Center for Contemporary Opera. The holiday season closed with a celebration of Jane Austen's birthday, Cheer from Chawton, written and performed by Karen Eterovich. The spring saw the moving production of Evocations of Armenia, combining Armenian poetry and stories with folk and classical music on cello.

Multi-session events with Donald McDonough, Carol Rial, and B.J. Rahn continued strong. An addition in this area were massively popular discussions of Henry James' late fiction with James Kraft.

Members of Systems and other departments come together as "the A/V Squad" to provide sound and technical support at events and to record them for streaming from the website. Latria Graham, George MuÒoz, Matthew Haugen, Derek Stadler, and Ingrid Richter formed the Squad this year, working twenty-four events in calendar year 2009.

I would like to reflect on the success we have had with The Writing Life, and more generally, writers services, in the last twelve months. Carolyn Waters, our Writers Services Librarian, has steered the ship on this. In early 2009 we started a Whitridge Room series of daytime talks geared towards the Library's member writer community. Due to the strong response to the talks, the series was extended for the 2009-2010 season. Since January 2010, the daytime series has been underwritten by Jenny Lawrence. The Writing Life programs have included The Changing Face of Journalism, Dealing with Permissions and Copyright, Self Publishing, Print and Digital Piracy, Working with an Editor, the Google Book Settlement, and Social Networking for Writers.

Also in January, the Library started its first ever blog. Carolyn Waters has been enhancing the role of writers services with "The Writing Life @ NYSOCLIB," a blog for and about member writers of the Library. Anyone who is a member or from the general public can read The Writing Life and you can find it linked both from the Library's website and from our Facebook page. The blog chronicles the publications and appearances of our member writers and events and news of interest to writers. The blog is attracting a growing audience, currently averaging around 200 pageloads per week.

The Children's Library

The Children's Library welcomed 127 new families in 2009 and enhanced its collection by more than 250 new titles. Its circulation increased to 15,060 children's books, counting for fifteen percent of total circulation.

Over 150 families participated in programs with staff Carrie Silberman, Rachel Henry and Heather Paulson, including storytelling for toddlers, preschool, and elementary age children and author/illustrator programs for older children. Among special events, local authors Johanna Hurwitz and Steve Kroll both discussed how life in New York City helps them develop book ideas. A December event honored longtime member Richard Peck as he presented his thirtieth book, A Season of Gifts. In February, Angelina Ballerina creator Katherine Holabird visited from overseas, and in March, we hosted Children's Poet Laureate of America Mary Ann Hoberman, who with Linda Winston presented The Tree That Time Built, their anthology of poems celebrating the natural world.

Children's Library staff and Children's Library Committee members also worked with Project Cicero, the annual book drive to benefit under-resourced New York City public schools. In 2010 more than 150,000 books were distributed to 1,200 teachers. Books were generously donated by individuals, families, schools, and corporate partners.

Outreach and Communications

Along with regular duties, many staff kept busy hosting visitors and students from other cultural institutions and library schools. For instance, Pratt Institute students in collection development received a presentation by Acquisitions staff Steve McGuirl and Carolyn Waters. Other visitors came from the Palmer School of Library and Information Studies, trustee Linn Cary Mehta's students at Barnard College, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Thank you to Arevig Caprielian, Jane Goldstein, Steve McGuirl, and Carolyn Waters for their work as hosts.

In 2009 I asked a small team of staff members to work as a communications and website task force. I asked them to review how we communicate to members and to recommend if there were other technologies and communication methods we could be using beyond our mix of print newsletters, the website, and Library signage. The major change in the last year was the introduction of an electronic newsletter, or e-newsletter, in October 2009. It is released monthly and contains news, occasional features, and event reminders. The e-newsletter goes out to current members, many expired members, and a significant number of non-members; about 4,000 email addresses in all. The monthly Children's Library e-newsletter reaches 210 people and features events, book reviews and recommended book lists.

We now have a worthy collection of publications that write about or profile the Society Library in one way or another. Most noticeably in the book form, Stuart A. Murray writes about us in his 300-page book The Library: An Illustrated History, in a chapter entitled "The Library in Colonial America." Mr. Murray puts us in the context of the growth of subscription libraries in the U.S., which started with Benjamin Franklin and the founding of the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731. Christopher Gray's "Where Fusty is Fabulous" Streetscapes column in The New York Times in March brought many people to the building and yielded a number of new members. It's not too often that we get our Members' Room pictured in Time Out New York, let alone nestled under a large picture of three handsome New York firemen sitting at a coffee shop - but there we were in a February issue of TONY titled "Find Your Calm," in a section called "Enjoy Absolute Silence."

We have had an excellent year, with more great books added, plenty of reading and discussion, an offsite storage program, workshops, media attention, a beautiful exhibition, over twenty audio and video event recordings, and almost fifty members in the new Goodhue Society.

Pericles once wrote, "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." I hope that our mission, if accomplished, is this very thing. With the power of words, the experience of community, and the comfortable home we provide at 79th and Madison, let's create even a better Library in the coming year.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Bartlett,
Head Librarian


 

Report of the Treasurer

George L.K. Frelinghuysen

(January - December 2009)

For the year ended December 31, 2009 the New York Society Library recorded an operating surplus of $236,755 prior to non-cash charges. This compares with a surplus of $137,700 budgeted for the year. On the revenue side there were several positive developments. While the number of Library members was slightly down from the prior year, 3147 versus 3180, revenues from membership subscriptions increased year over and did better than budget. In addition, we recorded 44 new members compared with 38 the year before. The annual appeal increased 12% over 2008 and easily surpassed our budgeted goal. A total of 843 gifts were received in 2009 against 800 in 2008. The top four categories represented 69% of all funds raised compared to 67% in the previous year. On behalf of the Board, I would like to express our appreciation to all the membership for your continued generous support of the Library.

Operating expenses were slightly above budget due to some unexpected expenses relating to building services and slightly higher staff expense. The Library continues to pay close attention to expense control.

Endowment income provides the largest source of support for the Library's operations. It covers about 60% of our operating expenses. In 2009 the value of the Library's endowment rebounded with the rest of the market. The value of our endowment increased approximately 14.5% over the course of the year. Despite the improved performance, the endowment draw will trend lower over the next several years as it is calculated on the rolling average of the prior three years. As a result, the Library will continue to be faced with challenges in 2011 and 2012. Much of the planning in the coming year will be on ways to meet these challenges without sacri.cing the level of service that we offer to our membership.

Respectfully submitted,

George L.K. Frelinghuysen,
Treasurer

STATEMENT OF REVENUE & EXPENSES UNRESTRICTED NET ASSETS
December 31, 2009 with comparative totals for 2008

REVENUE:20092008
MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS$584,061$527,029
DONATIONS AND REQUESTS419,292404,271
LECTURES AND CONVERSATIONS18,9878,081
BOOKS REPLACED AND SOLD14,42119,824
COPIER FEES AND BOOK FINES11,65011,389
MISCELLANEOUS INCOME15,38312,867
TOTAL REVENUE$1,063,794$976,040
EXPENSES:20092008
STAFF EXPENSES1,417,3401,380,270
LIBRARY MATERIALS130,758135,170
LIBRARY SERVICES138,918139,857
DEVELOPMENT168,822181,616
BUILDING (excluding depreciation)331,401284,386
PROFESSIONAL FEES37,80040,479
MISCELLANEOUS156,000132,038
TOTAL EXPENSES$2,381,039$2,293,816
INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS20092008
BEFORE ALLOCATION OF 
FOUR AND THREE QUARTER PERCENT (4¾%) 
FROM ENDOWMENT
(1,317,245)(1,317,776)
ALLOCATION OF 
FOUR AND THREE QUARTER PERCENT(4¾%) 
FROM ENDOWMENT
1,554,001,471,000
INCREASE IN NET ASSETS$236,755$153,224

The approximate market value of investments on December 31, 2009 was $28,272,000.Note: This statement includes unrestricted revenue and expenses only. All other funds are accounted for separately. Fully audited financial statements are available at the library.