This month Geraldine Mahoney retires as director of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library after 14 years there.

She said she is looking forward to spending time with her family and enjoying other interests, like going to musuems and theater. Currently, the village has posted the job opening.

She has overseen the rebuilding and expansion of the community’s library, written a blog for the library and  kept up with managing new library trends and reading new books.

Here is how she wrote her own biography for her Director’s Blog:

I have been in love with libraries since I was a little kid on Long Island and discovered the biography section. I worked at my public library when I was in high school, my college library during those years, and found myself at my local public library working and pursuing my Masters in Library Science after I completed my BA in History. I’ve always enjoyed the variety in my work – helping people, ordering books to build a collection, budgeting, planning buildings, working with a Board and Friends groups, and hiring people who make me look good! Suffice it to say I’ve been in the field for quite a while! In addition to completing a few library building projects, I also ran a small computer consulting company and helped a friend organize a specialty foods business.

Dr. Giovanna Czander, a resident of Irvington and an Adjunct Professor of Religion Studies at Dominican College in Orangeburg,  has contributed a chapter, “Of Donkeys and Witnesses: Interpolation or Interpretation?” to the newly published “A Land Like Your Own: Traditions of Israel and Their Reception.”

The book was published Sept 1,  by Wipf and Stock Publishers and is edited by Jason M. Silverman and Amy Daughton.

“A Land Like Your Own” explores the ways the Bible has reused previous traditions and has subsequently been reused by both Jews and Christians. The ten essays included cover a broad range of topics in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and subsequent traditions, but they all highlight the many ways in which the traditions associated with Israel have impacted communities, explains the publisher.

The book is geared for anyone involved in biblical studies (students and scholars alike) through its wide-ranging array of topics, highlighting how interconnected the many biblical studies sub-disciplines truly are.

Wipf and Stock publishes new works in theology, biblical studies, church history, philosophy and related disciplines. The book is also available at amazon.com

Looking for the perfect film but tired of the slim pickings from Netflix or the Multiplex?

Libraries are a great option, but the selection is sometimes hit or miss. But not at the Mount Pleasant Public Library, which boasts the curated collection of offerings from Pleasantville’s Jacob Burns Film Center. Library Director John Fearon explains…

(Video created by Brian Howard, Staff Writer)

High speed broadband service will be available on all computer terminals at the New Rochelle Public Library, courtesy of federal stimulus money.

At noon on Monday, the library is launching a New York Computer Center, which it describes an “extensive” new layer to its services “designed to help patrons find and keep job.” The event will feature the ribbon-cutting for a new computer lab. All aspects of NRPL’s PCC will be fully operational on Monday, library officials said.

The library is one of 35 libraries in New York state — and the only one in the local region — to receive this funding. The upgraded center will be known as a  Public Computer Center - broadbandexpress@yourlibrary and it will receive $244,000 over the next two years to make it all possible.

This grant is made possible by the New York State Library, a unit of the Office of Cultural Education within the New York State Education Department (NYSED), which was awarded $9.5 million in a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to expand computer access in public libraries across New York State, the library announced. The funding comes from  the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

With this upgrade the New Rochelle Public Library will be able to increase  the public’s access to high speed broadband services, expand services to  vulnerable populations (unemployed, underemployed or other vulnerable populations, including non-English speakers, seniors, disabled) by providing technical support and other resources to those seeking  job assistance, computer training and better computer and literacy skills.

The boardband will allow the library to offer  more computer programs, training and promotional materials in Spanish and other languages, and to install specific programs and equipment to facilitate computer use by disabled patrons.

“In general, the grant is allowing NRPL to again redefine itself by adding a whole layer of programs, services and technology geared to the current economic times and social needs those times have fueled,” said Barbara Davis, the library’s Community Relations Coordinator.

Thirty-six works from former North Salem Supervisor Paul Greenwood’s collection of rare books will be auctioned Friday by Christie’s in New York as part of a larger sale of “Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts including Americana.”

Greenwood’s antiques and collectibles are being sold off to repay investors he admitted to defrauding as part of a guilty plea to securities fraud charges in July. Christie’s has already sold his one-of-a-kind collection of Steiff stuffed animals and other auctions of art, furniture and interiors have been held or are planned. Greenwood’s books were held in a custom-designed library that was one of the standout features in his multimillion-dollar home in North Salem. The house is also for sale.

The books for sale include a complete set of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books from the 1920s with an estimated sale price of $8,000-$12,000; a bible from 1585 titled “The Holy Byble Conteining the Olde Testament and the Newe” with an estimate of $3,000-$4,000; Samuel Johnson’s “A Dictionary of the English Language” from 1755 with an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000; and a 1704 first edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s “Opticks” for between $25,000 and $35,000.

Photo of Greenwood’s home library courtesy Prudential Holmes & Kennedy

Thirty-six works from former North Salem Supervisor Paul Greenwood’s collection of rare books will be auctioned Friday by Christie’s in New York as part of a larger sale of “Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts including Americana.”

Greenwood’s antiques and collectibles are being sold off to repay investors he admitted to defrauding as part of a guilty plea to securities fraud charges in July. Christie’s has already sold his one-of-a-kind collection of Steiff stuffed animals and other auctions of art, furniture and interiors have been held or are planned. Greenwood’s books were held in a custom-designed library that was one of the standout features in his multimillion-dollar home in North Salem. The house is also for sale.

The books for sale include a complete set of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books from the 1920s with an estimated sale price of $8,000-$12,000; a bible from 1585 titled “The Holy Byble Conteining the Olde Testament and the Newe” with an estimate of $3,000-$4,000; Samuel Johnson’s “A Dictionary of the English Language” from 1755 with an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000; and a 1704 first edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s “Opticks” for between $25,000 and $35,000.

Photo of Greenwood’s home library courtesy Prudential Holmes & Kennedy