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Ulster County Libraries Highlight Expanded Digital, Museum and Learning Services Supported by County Funding
Summary
Katie Scott Childress, director of Rosendale Library and president of the Ulster County Library Association, briefed the legislature on county-supported library services including streaming service Canopy, LibCal reservations, ProQuest newspaper access and museum pass circulation.
Katie Scott Childress, director of the Rosendale Library and president of the Ulster County Library Association (UCLA), told the Ulster County Legislature that county funding helps local libraries provide digital and in-person services including a streaming platform, museum and park passes, historical newspaper access and classes.
Childress said the UCLA's largest budget item is a streaming service called Canopy, which patrons use for documentaries, classic films and online courses. She described museum passes, noting the Guggenheim pass admits four adults and cited a typical admission price of about $30 per person. The association added the Borscht Belt Museum in Ellenville and the Children's Museum of Manhattan this year to serve families with children.
The countywide newspaper subscription purchased through ProQuest gives residents access to five major daily newspapers and historical archives, Childress said, and she described the difference between that academic access and a commercial news website subscription.
Childress described other services funded by the county association: LibCal, a reservation system that lets patrons reserve museum passes and register for library programs; LibraryAware, an email/newsletter platform for library outreach; Universal Class (600+ online courses with continuing-education credit); and Libby, which the libraries use to purchase and lend audiobooks.
She also listed recent facility and program improvements across the county: Marlborough library renovations, Woodstock moving to a new building, Olive Library opening a branch in Shokan, Wallkill Library renovations, Rosendale picnic tables, and Gardner Library benches made from collected plastic bags.
Childress thanked the legislature for funding and emphasized libraries as "centers of community and learning," noting that families and patrons value access to museum passes, courses and historical newspaper archives supported by county funding.
What happens next: Library programs will continue under current funding; Childress said the UCLA evaluates services annually and sometimes phases out resources when newer platforms supplant them (for example, craft databases replaced by Canopy's hobby courses).
