Nyack Library

Mission

The Nyack Library’s mission is to provide members of the community materials to help them gain knowledge, broaden their lives, and support their educational and research needs. The purpose of the Local History Room is to serve the community by collecting, preserving, and promoting the study of local history in Nyack, Rockland County, and the Hudson Valley region.

Scope

The Nyack Library’s Isabelle K. Savell Local History Room is dedicated to providing a wellorganized and balanced collection that chronicles Nyack’s history. The emphasis of the collection is on documenting Nyack’s settlement, industry, commerce, recreation, and people, including all ethnicities and races, as well as the history of its social, cultural and civic life.

Collecting Policy

Materials collected primarily consist of books and other published items, papers and manuscripts, photographs, maps, and genealogical resources, unpublished materials, journals, letters, pamphlets, scrapbooks and other local ephemera. The Local History Room and its collection is not the repository of record for any local governmental material, and not intended to duplicate in subject areas where other regional institutions already collect and preserve materials. Since the materials are intended to be held permanently, the extent of the collections will be determined by the space and budget available to conserve, preserve and make materials available for public research.

Gifts

The Nyack Library reserves sole discretion in determining which materials will be accepted and preserved in its collection. Selection criteria include content, relevance, and space limitations, as well as staffing, maintenance and preservation costs. Donors must sign either a “Deed of Gift” transferring ownership and copyright, or Loan of Materials form, which outlines the time period the materials may be available for use in the Local History collection. The Nyack Library reserves the right to decline gift or loan offers. Gifts which fall outside the collecting scope or require more resources than the library can provide will not be considered.

Deaccessions

The Nyack Library reserves the right to withdraw materials that in its discretion do not fit within the purpose, nature, and scope of collection, or are in poor condition. Withdrawn items may be returned to donors, offered to other institutions, donated to the Friends of the Nyack Library, or discarded.

Adopted November 15, 2021