DUNDEE LIBRARY RECEIVES AWARD
Dundee Library
(607)243-5938
nicholsl@stls.org
December 12, 2024
DUNDEE Library receives award
Each fall, The Landmark Society of Western New York presents awards to projects, people, and organizations who, through their dedication and hard work, have contributed to historic preservation in our nine-county area. The 2024 Preservation Awards, presented by The Innovating Edge, were announced at a ceremony on November 17th.
The Dundee Library is proud to have received a 2024 Stewardship Award.
The Stewardship Award recognizes an individual or organization that has provided continued care of and commitment to the preservation of an architecturally and/or historically significant public property over a period of years. “Care” can include appropriate changes to the building fabric. Eligible properties include religious, educational, not-for-profit, commercial or government buildings, structures, objects, or sites.
The announcement was made by the Landmark Society
The community and staff of the Dundee Library have demonstrated ongoing stewardship of the site for over a century. Many of the building’s historic features have been preserved, including its entry portico, brick masonry walls, slate roof, and reading room bookcases. Original windows found by a community member are even proudly displayed on interior walls. The community also continues to work on the site, reconstructing the entry stairs in 2021 and planning on the restoration of the slate roof.
Originally established by a Woman’s Study Club in 1919, the library remains an important site for the village. Beyond books and movies, the library provides access to local historical information, telehealth kits, community space, and a garden. Despite its diminutive size, the Dundee Library functions as an active and dedicated community center for the rural village’s residents, and for their diligent maintenance and upkeep, The Landmark Society honors the Dundee Library with a 2024 Stewardship Award.
Linda Nichols, Library Director, said that the five year building project is now complete with the front windows being restored. The multi-year project was funded with New York State Library Construction funds administered by Southern Tier Library System. These funds covered seventy-five percent of the cost for the project. Other funding came from the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, Tripp Foundation, McDonald Foundation, Community Foundation of Corning Elmira and the Finger Lakes and the Yates Area Fund. The project included new steps, emergency generator, replacement windows, new furnaces, new accessible lift, handicapped accessible entrance and the Tripp Community Room.
She also said that the current Library Board of Trustees and the staff are grateful for the more than 100 years that the community and the former Woman’s Study Club have supported and maintained the Library. The Woman’s Study Club formed in 1903 and opened the first library in 1908. The current building at 32 Water Street opened in 1920. It is built on property bequeathed to the Woman’s Study Club by Della Reese Cooper. She also left funding and the directive that a library be built within three years of her death. There have been three additions to the building since it opened.
