The Friends Community Outreach Committee was formed in late 2023, with the mission of extending literacy resources to organizations in need. Through the “Building Libraries Through Outreach” initiative, the Committee has supported nursing homes, hospitals, senior centers, schools, Boys & Girls Club programs, the Schenectady County Jail, and more. The Committee continues to network and build connections throughout the community, sharing in the spirit of giving and working to make a meaningful difference for residents of Schenectady County. Since 2023, over 5,000 books have been donated to community organizations.

Examples of our Community Partners

STARS Program

Schenectady Takes Action for Reading Success (STARS) is an action campaign that aims to spread free and diverse children’s books throughout Schenectady County while motivating parents and caregivers to talk, read, and sing more with their young children from birth. STARS has distributed over 46,000 books/kits from 2017-2025 through generous funding from organizations including the Friends, Schenectady County Public Library, Schenectady County Public Health Services, Northern Rivers, Ellis Medicine, Schenectady City School District, Schenectady County OCFS, and Sycamore Collaborative. Total support from the Friends over the past 10 years totals over $95,000. Monetary donations made to the Friends can be designated specifically to the STARS program.

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.

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.