Christmas came a little early to the two libraries in the Town of Marlborough, as both received special gifts this holiday season - one in the form of a large charitable donation, the other in the form of a state grant.

The Marlboro Library received a donation last week in the amount of $138,903 from the James and Elizabeth Manion Charitable Fund, held at the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.

The donation comes as the Library prepares to expand its community room and renovate the north entrance, partly funded through a New York State Library Aid Construction grant award.

The James and Elizabeth Manion Community Room will serve the residents of Marlborough through hands-on adult programming, vibrant youth programming, community functions and more. “Trustees and staff are thrilled that the Library is the beneficiary of the Trust” said Library Director Christina Jennerich. “And the opportunity to honor previous Director Libby Manion for her dedication to the Library and the Marlborough community is extra special.”

The late Elizabeth Manion served as Director of the Marlboro Library from 1985-2002 and also served as a trustee. During her 30 years of service to the Library, she led many significant initiatives including moving the library from private to sustainable public funding, the relocation of the library from King Street to its current location and envisioning and leading the construction of a “purpose-built” library building.

The focus of her tenure was the public library’s need to offer new technologies while maintaining its mission to serve as a community resource for educational, cultural and recreational services for every generation. She was instrumental in the Library becoming one of the earliest fine-free libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System.

The late Dr. James Manion was a lifelong resident of Marlboro. He was a member of the medical staff at Saint Francis Hospital and Vassar Brothers Hospital, where he served as chairman of the internal medicine department and president of the medical staff. He also served as the Medical Director at IBM, Green Haven Correctional Facility and the Empire Plan/UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York, from which he retired in 2014.

“This is a worthwhile and meaningful cause for which to donate funds from the James and Elizabeth Manion Charitable Fund. We thank the Marlboro Library Board of Trustees for recognizing these accomplishments by dedicating the new community room in honor of our parents. Their memories will live on in the spirit of the Library and throughout the community”, said Manion’s daughter, Katherine Weinstock.

Milton’s Sarah Hull Hallock Free Library, meanwhile, received a grant award totaling $25,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the recovery of the nonprofit arts and culture sector.

“As a cultural capital of the world, New York State is strengthened by our expansive coverage of the arts across all 62 counties,” said Governor Kathy Hochul in a prepared statement. “This year’s historic commitment to the arts sector will spur our continuing recovery from the pandemic and set the course for a stronger future.”

Incorporated in 1887, the Sarah Hull Hallock Free Library is an anchor building on Main Street at the heart of the hamlet of Milton. For 135 years strong, the library has been a welcoming, public resource to the neighborhood, the Town of Marlborough, Ulster County and the Mid-Hudson Valley.

“We are delighted to receive funding that allows us to nurture performing and visual arts in our rural area,” stated Rosemary Wein, president of the library’s board of trustees. “Community conversations conducted by the Sarah Hull Hallock Free Library found that area residents value artistic expression, and the grant funds will underwrite a rich schedule of multi-cultural special events and teaching-artist workshops arranged and hosted by our library.”

Lois Heiser Skelly, library director, pointed out that all programs held by the SHHFL are free and open to the public. As an essential and integral part of the community, the Sarah Hull Hallock Free Library inspires lifelong learning, advances knowledge, encourages creative expression, and offers opportunities to explore new experiences and ideas. SHHFL’s staff and board members are grateful to NYSCA for fueling the furthering of the library’s mission.