The generous donations from the libraries and the community allow us to not only stock two book stores, but also support other groups in the community. Our partners include schools, senior living residences, Ellis Medicine, and Schenectady County Jail, among others.
STARS Program
Schenectady Takes Action for Reading Success, or STARS, is a coalition of organizations who are committed to the support of early literacy, family literacy, and community literacy and who are taking action. The Friends is one of several organizations who partner with STARS to provide books in the community. The Friends also accepts monetary donations for the STARS program (note checkbox on donation form).
Ellis Medicine Comfort Cart
Friends of the Library worked with Ellis Medicine’s volunteer service on the hospital’s “comfort cart,” donating a variety of books to lend to patients during their stay on the nursing floors.
Bridges of Schenectady
Bridges of Schenectady is a transitional housing program for alcoholism and drug dependency. The residential program’s directive is restoring each client to the highest possible level of spiritual, physical, emotional and social health. The Friends have supported Bridges with developing a small library and reading area and holding a coat drive for residents.
Street Soldiers Schenectady
Street Soldiers Schenectady is a grass roots group of volunteers helping the community, providing pantry items, personal hygiene items, and other supplies to needy residents. The Friends support the group with a range of books for both adults and children.
School at Northeast
The Friends partnered with the School at Northeast, a coed special educational school, to help them develop a professional development library focused on social justice. “As a therapeutic school, we often deal with challenging situations for the young people we work with … We hope that by building voluntary resources on these topics, we may be able to continue educating ourselves and coworkers on issues that may be impactful to our students’ lives,” said teacher Jackson Hawk.
Democracy Help Desk
The Friends assisted the Niskayuna High School social studies department as they began a new initiative for students. The Democracy Help Desk provides resources that are crucial to civic engagement: pocket Constitutions; assistance with voter registration and other government forms; and a Little Lending Library curated by teaching staff and The Friends.
Unique Boutique, MLK Elementary School
Martin Luther King Elementary School has a special program for rewarding students. Students who respond positively and perform well in school receive “dollars” to spend on clothing and supplies, and children choose one or two books of their choice.
Credit: Heritage Home for Women
Heritage Home for Women
The Friends have partnered with Heritage Home for Women, a women’s residence on Union Street in Schenectady. The Home assembled a group of residents who expressed interest in more and varied reading material. The Friends recycled older books and provided newer fiction, historical, biographies, and reference books. Heritage Home is developing a book club for its residents, giving them an opportunity to discuss books in detail and expand their interests.
Brookdale Senior Living Community
The Friends and SCPL’s board of trustees partnered with Brookdale Senior Living Community in Niskayuna to update the residents’ library. The SCPL board of trustees is required to have a long range plan of service, which includes outreach to people who may not have access to library branches and programs. Brookdale’s residents are excited that their library is getting attention. The Friends are spreading goodwill in the community by sharing their inventory with avid readers at Brookdale Senior Living Community who will have a collection of newer titles.
Schenectady County Jail Library
The Friends launched a new partnership in 2024 with the Schenectady County Jail. We have donated books to update their general library, which has not been fully operational for several years. Initial steps included organizing the existing books; recycling old books; and determining gaps for expanding the current selections. Volunteers will continue to give on-site support for the development of the library.
Books for Liberia
The Friends partnered with local community members John and Lynn Kucij to provide books Kingdom Embassy School in Liberia’s Rock Hill Community. John and Lynn served as Peace Corps teachers in the 1970s and formed lifelong connections to the area. They currently volunteer with health and education projects in Rock Hill through Albany’s Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Trinity Presbyterian Church – Jail Ministry
The Friends provide books to Trinity Presbyterian Church in Scotia in support of its Jail Ministry program. Members of the ministry visit inmates at Schenectady County Jail. The church also stocks the jail library, which is volunteer-run, with donations from its congregation and The Friends. The Friends is proud to support the program with bibles and self-help books.
Friends of SCPL 