CHENEY LIBRARY
The Cheney Library located at 73 Classic St in Hoosick Falls serves the towns of Hoosick, Pittstown, Buskirk, and White Creek.
The Cheney Library was a gift to the people of Hoosick Falls from Charles Cheney who, in 1912, left $50,000 in his estate for the construction and support of a Library and historical rooms. Mr. Cheney was a long-standing student of history with a keen interest in libraries. In his will, Mr. Cheney also left the people of Hoosick Falls many books and pictures for the Library.
In 1907, Mr. Cheney petitioned the NY State Education Department for a Charter for a Library for Hoosick Falls. The Hoosick Falls Free Public Library was openend in February of that year in the municipal building on Main Street. After Mr. Cheney’s death in 1912, the funds he left for the Library were invested until they had increased enough for a suitable building. On October 22, 1922 the cornerstone of the Cheney Library was laid. It opened on November 23, 1923 with 4,000 books in its collection and 400 patrons.
Today, the Cheney Library has over 16,000 books, 400 audio and visual materials, 25 different magazines and 2,000 patrons. Our circulation is automated and we have 3 public computers for Internet access. We have story time for preschool children, New York State Summer Reading Program for school age students, sponsor 2 book clubs and host a knitting/crochet group and a quilting group. The historical rooms are no longer used as such. However, all of the historical material from the Library is now at the Louis. B. Miller Museum. A Grandma Moses painting is on loan to the Bennington Museum. Some items of interest that remain at the Library include an original 1860 map of the Village, the Hurlburt Chart, handwritten in 1872 and giving a history of the Village from 1832 on, and a Jose de Creeft painting.
The Cheney Library is a member of the Upper Hudson Library System, a consortium of 28 libraries in Albany and Rensselaer Counties. Through the interlibrary loan service Cheney Library borrowers have access to thousands of books, CD’s, and DVD’s throughout the system.
