Jefferson Market Library Wins $10,000 Prize Scrapbook

The Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village made the list of top 10 finalists in the NYC Neighborhood Library Awards, which celebrates local libraries’ service to their community. The Charles H. Revson and Stavros Niarchos Foundations announced the winners and awarded the Jefferson Market Library $10,000, while awarding the top five libraries $20,000 each in a ceremony Wednesday May 20. The winners emerged from more than 13,000 nominations. Councilmember Corey Johnson presented the award and announced that the library had also recently been awarded $500,000 to build an ADA compliant bathroom as part of the City Council participatory budgeting process. (Johnson is pictured, along with Frank Collerius of the Jefferson Market Library.) The demand for library services has increased in the digital age. A recent report by the Center for an Urban Future – titled Branches of Opportunity and funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation – revealed that over the past decade circulation at New York City libraries has increased by 59 percent, program attendance by 40 percent, and program sessions by 27 percent.