Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is on Lafayette Square, city-state|Buffalo|New York. The current library built in the 1960s replaced the original Cyrus Eidlitz Buffalo Public Library Building dedicated on February1887.cite web|url=http://ah.phpwebhosting.com/h/library/index.html|title=1887 Buffalo Public Library|publisher=Chuck LaChiusa|accessdate=2008-03-07] Before the Public Library was built, the original city-state|Erie County|New York courthouse was on this parcel from 1816-1876. [cite web|url=http://lucky.phpwebhosting.com/~ah/h/lafsq/courthse/source/3.html|title=Court House|publisher=Chuck LaChiusa|work=History of Buffalo]

It was founded in the 19th Century by a group of prominent Buffalo citizens including Samuel Clemens, who was then-editor of the newspaper in Buffalo.

The library includes the original, hand-written manuscript of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, which Twain donated to the library in 1885.

Area Libraries

Alden Crane Kenmore Orchard ParkAngola Dudley Lackawanna Reinstein, Anna M.Audubon East Clinton Lake ShoreReinstein, Julia B.Aurora East Delavan Lancaster Riverside Boston Eden Marilla Tonawanda, City of Central Eggertsville Merriweather,Frank E., Jr. West Seneca Clarence Elma Newstead Williamsville Clearfield Grand Island Niagara Collins Hamburg North Collins ConcordKenilworth North Park

Institutional Services

The Institutional Services Division provides library services in three Erie County institutions.

Home Branch Library

First begun in 1956 with only a few books, this library at the Erie County Home has evolved dramatically. Users can now enjoy typical branch services as well as use the program room for coffee hour, old-time radio programs, read-alouds and travel club programs. Magnifying bars, book supports, tape-players, slides, slideviewers and electronic magnifiers are available for those needing special accommodations. Collections such as large print, video and audio cassettes create a warm place to find information or just sit and talk to a friend. For those unable to come to this library, room-to-room cart service to residents is provided.

Correctional Facility Library

This library located within the Erie County Correctional Facility contains both a law library and a general public library. Constructed in 1986, this 7,500 square foot library was the first to be built as a core or focal point of a Correctional Facility. Its general collection contains over 8,000 books for inmates' educational and recreational purposes, and 1,000 square feet of the library is set aside to house a legal collection of over 4,000 volumes. Computers are available to inmates for their legal work.

Holding Center Library

Begun in 1969 as cart service to cells, this library has grown to encompass a new facility with both a legal collection and a general library. Residents can borrow all types of materials from adventure fiction to religious non-fiction and use a large legal collection while awaiting trial.

Home Branch Library

First begun in 1956 with only a few books, this library at the Erie County Home has evolved dramatically. Users can now enjoy typical branch services as well as use the program room for coffee hour, old-time radio programs, read-alouds and travel club programs. Magnifying bars, book supports, tape-players, slides, slideviewers and electronic magnifiers are available for those needing special accommodations. Collections such as large print, video and audio cassettes create a warm place to find information or just sit and talk to a friend. For those unable to come to this library, room-to-room cart service to residents is provided.

Correctional Facility Library

This library located within the Erie County Correctional Facility contains both a law library and a general public library. Constructed in 1986, this 7,500 square foot library was the first to be built as a core or focal point of a Correctional Facility. Its general collection contains over 8,000 books for inmates' educational and recreational purposes, and 1,000 square feet of the library is set aside to house a legal collection of over 4,000 volumes. Computers are available to inmates for their legal work

Holding Center Library

Begun in 1969 as cart service to cells, this library has grown to encompass a new facility with both a legal collection and a general library. Residents can borrow all types of materials from adventure fiction to religious non-fiction and use a large legal collection while awaiting trial.

pecial Collections

The Center for Afro-American History and ResearchThe Center for Afro-American History and Research is the largest resource center in Western New York for information on African-American history and is located at Frank E. Merriweather Jr. Library. The reference collection includes books, microfilm and pictures with its emphasis on primary source material related to African-American history in Western New York. The "Buffalo Afro-American Collection" is a microfilmed collection, which contains the records of many local organizations as well as the personal papers of community leaders. Records include Urban League, BUILD papers, Bethel A.M.E. Church, First Shiloh, Raphael DuBard's papers and more.

Collection for Persons with DisabilitiesFor individuals with visual impairments, radio receivers, talking books, print-braille books, descriptive videos and large print books are in circulation. A personal reader and electronic magnifier are available for public use with training on the equipment provided. For individuals with hearing impairment, telecaption decoders and assistive listening devices circulate and a TTY 24-hour Reference Access line is available at 842-0051. Grosvenor Room (Genealogy, Music, Rare Books)This department of Central Library (716-858-8900), opened in 1994, brings together the library's extensive genealogy and local history materials. The Special Collections Department includes family histories; general and ethnic genealogical research manuals; indexes to passenger lists; surname dictionaries, local histories, military roster lists; heraldry and family crest dictionaries; directories of libraries, historical societies, genealogical organizations, and vital records offices. In 1995, the Department became the home of the collection of the Western New York Genealogical Society Collection, the region's oldest and largest genealogy organization. Materials from some Grosvenor Room collections are for in-library use only and cannot be borrowed.

Mark Twain RoomThis special exhibition room at the Central Library (716-858-8900) is the home of Twain's original handwritten manuscript, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain was an active member of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library's predecessor, the Young Men's Association and honored the Library with the manuscript of what is viewed by many as the greatest American novel. In 1885, Twain donated the second half of Huckleberry Finn, believing the first half had been lost by a printer. In 1991, the missing portion of the manuscript was discovered in a small steamer trunk in a Los Angeles attic. It was among the possessions of James Fraser Gluck, a curator of the Buffalo Library who had requested the manuscript from Twain a century earlier. Eventually, Twain mailed the missing half of the manuscript, but Gluck, who apparently had removed it from the library to have it bound, died with it among his belongings in 1897. After gaining possession, the B&ECPL united the manuscript in 1992 for the first time in more than 100 years and showcases this cultural treasure in its Mark Twain Room. This priceless literary masterpiece is on public display in the heart of the room.The Mark Twain Room also houses an antique walnut mantel from the now demolished Delaware Avenue home where Mark Twain resided during his brief newspaper career in Buffalo. A unique portrait of Twain hangs prominently above this scrupulously restored hardwood mantel. Norman Rockwell prints from a 1940 edition of Huckleberry Finn enhance the wall space on either side. Bookcases line two walls. Hundreds of Twain publications, including many first editions and many foreign languages, call these cases home. The Mark Twain Room is open during normal Central Library hours of operation.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.buffalolib.org/aboutthelibrary/history.asp Buffalo & Erie County Public Library history]