Tompkins County Public Library | |
---|---|
Established | 1864 [1] |
Location | 101 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York |
Coordinates | 42°26′18″N76°29′54″W / 42.43824°N 76.49831°W Coordinates: 42°26′18″N76°29′54″W / 42.43824°N 76.49831°W |
Branches | 1 |
Collection | |
Size | 264,508 [2] |
Access and use | |
Circulation | 580,820 [1] |
Population served | 101,564 (2012) |
Members | 39,883 [1] |
Other information | |
Budget | $3.87 million (2014) [3] |
Director | Annette Birdsall [4] |
Website | http://www.tcpl.org |
Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) is the public library for residents of Tompkins County, New York. The library has one branch which is located in Ithaca, New York.
Ithaca's first public library was founded by Ezra Cornell as the Cornell Free Library and chartered by the New York State Legislature in 1864. [5] Circulation began on March 4, 1867. [5] It stood at the southeast corner of Seneca and Tioga streets from 1864 to 1960. [6] Early classes and commencement of Cornell University took place in the library. [5]
In 1967 the library was re-designated as the county's library when the county paid for the construction of a new $1.7 million building. This new building opened at 312 North Cayuga Street in February 1969. [5] [6]
By the 1990s, the library had outgrown the space at North Cayuga Street. In November 2000, the library moved to a renovated former Woolworths department store, which was double the size of the old building. This current building is located at the corner of Cayuga and Green Street (New York Route 79) just south of the Ithaca Commons. [6] [5] In November 2010 the library celebrated ten years in the current building. The Library began celebration for its Sesquicentennial in 2014. [5] As part of that celebration, a mural of founder Ezra Cornell was hung on the exterior wall of the library building in October 2016. [7]
The Library serves as the Central Library of the five-county Finger Lakes Library System [8] and provides free and equal access to residents of Tompkins, Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Schuyler and Tioga counties.
TCPL hosts nearly one million visitors each year, making it the single, largest driver of traffic to downtown Ithaca. The library provides access to digital resources, including wireless internet access, databases and eBooks, as well as an extensive print collection. It also serves as the cultural hub of Tompkins County, providing museum quality art exhibits, opportunities for civic engagement and programs for children, teens and adults.
The library's primary budget allocation comes from Tompkins County, with additional support from the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation and The Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library. In November 2014, The Tompkins County Public Library Foundation announced a $2.75 million Campaign for a 21st Century Library in support of the construction of a digital literacy lab, a teen center, collection expansion and endowment building. [9] Another $1.4 million was granted in 2016 for the creation of a teen center and renovations to the interior. [10] Part of the Campaign for a 21st Century Library is the LEGO Library, which was led by Peter and Andrew McCracken. It features a 6' by 6' model of the library post-renovation. [11]
Support from the Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library is funded by the Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library Booksale. One of the largest events of its type in the United States, the booksale draws thousands to an Esty Street warehouse each year in search of books, records, CDs and DVDs provided through community donations. [12]
The Tompkins County Public Library is a part of the eight-site Ithaca Discovery Trail.
Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area and second largest in volume. It is just under 39 miles (63 km) long. Its average width is 1.7 miles (2.8 km), and it is 3.5 mi wide (5.6 km) at its widest point, near Aurora. It is approximately 435 ft deep (133 m) at its deepest point, and has over 95 miles (153 km) of shoreline.
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named after the Greek island of Ithaca.
Seneca Lake is the largest of the glacial Finger Lakes of the U.S. state of New York, and the deepest glacial lake entirely within the state. It is promoted as being the lake trout capital of the world, and is host of the National Lake Trout Derby. Because of its depth and relative ease of access, the US Navy uses Seneca Lake to perform test and evaluation of equipment ranging from single element transducers to complex sonar arrays and systems. The lake takes its name from the Seneca nation of Native Americans. At the north end of Seneca Lake is the city of Geneva, New York, home of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, a division of Cornell University. At the south end of the lake is the village of Watkins Glen, New York, famed for auto racing and waterfalls.
Seneca County is located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,814. The county seat is Waterloo. It became a one county in 1822, which currently remains in effect and uses one locations as county seats although the majority of Seneca County administrative offices are located in Waterloo. Therefore, most political sources list only Waterloo as the county seat. The county's name comes from the Seneca Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), who occupied part of the region.
Schuyler County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,898, making it the second-least populous county in New York. The county seat is the village of Watkins Glen. The name is in honor of General Philip Schuyler, one of the four major generals in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.
Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States.
Trumansburg is a village in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 1,797 at the 2010 census. The name incorporates a misspelling of the surname of the founder, Abner Treman. The Tremans spelled their surname several different ways; "Truman," however, was not one of them. The village's application for a post office established the present spelling. The Village of Trumansburg is located within the Town of Ulysses and is northwest of Ithaca, New York.
Ezra Cornell was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agriculture Society and as a New York State Senator.
Stewart Park is a municipal park operated by the City of Ithaca, New York on the southern end of Cayuga Lake, the largest of New York's Finger Lakes.
The Ithaca Commons is a two-block pedestrian mall in the business improvement district known as Downtown Ithaca that serves as the city's cultural and economic center. The Commons is a popular regional destination, and is filled with upscale restaurants and shops, public art, and frequent community festivals.
This is a list of trails in Ithaca, New York.
Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, Inc., usually referred to as TCAT, is a private, non-profit public transportation operator, created by Cornell University, Tompkins County, and the City of Ithaca to serve Tompkins County, New York. The vast majority of TCAT bus routes are based in the City of Ithaca and surrounding urban area. These routes serve Ithaca College, Cornell University, and Tompkins Cortland Community College. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 2,122,800, or about 6,200 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2022.
New York’s 23rd congressional district is located in Upstate New York, and covers much of the Southern Tier. It extends along New York's border with Pennsylvania from the shores of Lake Erie in Chautauqua County to the suburbs of Binghamton in Tioga County. The district includes three of the eleven Finger Lakes: Keuka Lake, Seneca Lake, and Cayuga Lake.
New York State Route 79 (NY 79) is a 93.18-mile-long (149.96 km) east–west state highway in the Southern Tier of New York, in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at the intersection with NY 414 near the southern end of Seneca Lake just northeast of Watkins Glen. Its eastern terminus is at the Pennsylvania state line in the town of Windsor in Broome County, where it connects to Pennsylvania Route 92 (PA 92). NY 79 passes through three regions; it starts in the Finger Lakes region, runs through Central New York and ends on the western fringes of the Catskills. The route is signed east–west, but from Whitney Point to the state line it runs in a north–south orientation and is signed north-south a few miles south of Center Village, a hamlet that is a few miles south of Harpursville.
New York State Route 89 (NY 89) is a north–south state highway in central New York in the United States. It extends for 62.35 miles (100.34 km) from an intersection with NY 13, NY 34, and NY 96 in the Tompkins County city of Ithaca to an interchange with NY 104 in the Wayne County town of Wolcott. The route spans a total of three counties, connecting the heart of the Finger Lakes Region to a point 6 miles (10 km) south of Lake Ontario. Along the way, NY 89 intersects two regionally important highways: the conjoined routes of U.S. Route 20 (US 20) and NY 5 in Seneca Falls and NY 31 in Savannah. NY 89 runs along the western edge of Cayuga Lake from Ithaca to Seneca Falls.
The New York, Auburn and Lansing Railroad, also known as the Ithaca-Auburn Short Line, was the only interurban line to operate in Tompkins County, New York.
William Henry Miller (1848–1922) was an American architect based in Ithaca, New York.
The Sciencenter's Sagan Planet Walk is a walkable scale model of the Solar System, located in Ithaca, New York. The model scales the entire Solar System—both planet size and distances between them—down to one five billionth of its actual size. The exhibition was originally created in 1997 in memory of Ithaca resident and Cornell Professor Carl Sagan.
Ithaca Bus Station, also referred to as Ithaca Bus Terminal, is an intercity bus station in Ithaca, the county seat and only city in Tompkins County, New York. The Prairie-style building, located west of North Fulton Street between West Seneca Street and West State Street, was designed by architect Frank J. Nies in 1912 as a train station of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. DL&W ceased passenger operations in 1942, and Greyhound Bus Lines acquired the station in 1967. The station building accommodates waiting area with seats, ticketing and package express office, and restrooms.
The station closed in October, 2018 due to construction, retirement of the station operators, and changing infrastructure in the area. Buses are now boarding downtown for the time being until long-term plans are made. The City of Ithaca designated the station as a local landmark in January, 2019.
Cayuga Medical Center, officially referred to as Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca and abbreviated as CMC, is a not-for-profit general hospital in Ithaca, New York, serving the residents of Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, and Tompkins counties. The hospital has 204 beds in total, and is one of the largest hospitals in the Finger Lakes region and the Southern Tier.