History and Mission

Mission Statement

The mission of the Hammondsport Public Library is to anticipate and respond to the recreational and informational needs of the people of the community as those needs relate to reading, listening and viewing. By providing a wide variety of library materials and services, the library supports the cultural, educational and recreational activities of the community, thereby increasing its appeal as a place to live or visit.

The primary role of the library is to serve as a popular materials library; i.e., to make available materials, programming and services that are of high interest or high demand for persons of any age. The library collection includes materials in a variety of formats balancing the overall breadth of the collection with demand for individual items, within the framework of the annual budget. Library services include promoting the library as an important community resource in order to encourage library use by both groups and individuals.

The secondary role of the public library is to serve as a doorway to information in the 21st century by providing electronic library services to the residents of our community. As an electronic doorway library, the library can meet the ongoing library and global information needs of education, government, business and all people regardless of age, background, and location.

Brief History

The Hammondsport Public Library was founded in 1876. Membership cost $1.00 per year and entitled the card holder to borrow 1 book per week. The Library had 388 books and was located in H.L. Moore's Drug Store. Over the years the Library has moved 4 times: in 1883 to what is now the U.S. Post Office parking lot; in 1896 to the basement of the school at Lake and Main; in the 1930's to the Conderman Block (opera house); and finally, in 1962, to it's present location. The collection has grown to over 28,000 items and is growing every day. The library was established by an association, with the School District taking over in 1896, and was chartered in 1938 by the Town of Urbana as a Town Public Library. The first book, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, remains in the collection.