Staff + Board
LIBRARY STAFF
Dede Farabaugh
Library Director
she/her
Ask me about 19th century fashion, interior design, Modern American fiction, or dogs – any dogs.
Ryan Biracree
Digital Services Librarian
Justice McCray
Assistant Programming Librarian
they/them
Ask me about activism, mutual aid, story structure, and intersectionality.
Veronica Morgan
Children's Librarian
Beth Vardy
Teen Services Librarian
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Trustees
Anita Prentice, President
George Lansbury, 1st Vice President
Elizabeth Anderson, 2nd Vice President
Derrick Hopkins, Treasurer
Susan Landstreet, Secretary
Sarah Bayne
Erik Brown
Robert Culp
Sundance DiGiovanni
Eliza Mackenzie Fish
Hamilton Fish
Kyle Good
Peter Hofmann, MD
Taro Ietaka
Madeline Julian
Jonathan Kruk
David Lilburne
Frank E. Lucente, MD
Frederick H. Osborn, III
Michael Rauch
Jennifer Schmalz
Charity Shumway
Kristin Sorenson
Richard Syrek
Neal Zuckerman
Patricia Adams, Honorary Trustee
Friends of the Library
Teri Waivada, Friends President
Sarina Tamagna-Hawes, Friends VP
Sylvia Wallin, Friends Secretary
Catherine Lim, Friends Treasurer
Advisory Council
John Winthrop Aldrich
Anita Hall Angelopolous
Liza Bailey
Stephen Kent
Bob McCaffrey
Raymond O’Rourke
Joe Plummer
Russell B. Pyne
Andrew C. Revkin
Arthur Ross
Katherine O. Roberts
William Sadler
Virginia Sirusas
It is the Mission of the Alice Curtis Desmond and Hamilton Fish Library to provide access to the world of social and cultural ideas to the Community by offering a wide variety of materials and programs. The Library has a special mission to young children and their parents to encourage a love of reading and learning. The Library is committed to preserving the integrity of the collections of the Curtis Desmond and Fish Families.
A Brief History of the Desmond-Fish Public Library
The Alice Curtis Desmond and Hamilton Fish Library (also known as the Desmond-Fish Public Library) opened in 1980. Founded by Alice Curtis Desmond and Congressman Hamilton Fish, it was designed as a community library for people living in Putnam and adjoining counties. The Library is a member of the Mid-Hudson Library System: anyone with a library card from a public library in Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, Greene or Ulster counties may borrow materials from DFPL.
The Library offers a variety of programs throughout the year that reflect the diverse interests of our community. We partner with local organizations and businesses to provide educational and cultural programs to the public. In April 2018, the Library opened a state-of-the-art Innovation and Learning Center a state-of-the-art makerspace and education center focused on the intersection of technology and the arts and dedicated to promoting social justice and information literacy through free access to technology.
The Library is supported by an endowment established by Alice Curtis Desmond; state, county and town funding; and fundraising from the community. Every spring the Library Board sponsors the Associates Awards Dinner, which honors area residents and notable contributors to arts and literature. Other annual events include Martin Luther King Day programs and the Friends Book and Media Sale.
The Desmond-Fish Public Library is committed to providing services, resources, and programs that uphold all libraries’ core values of democracy, diversity, and social responsibility. In keeping with these values, the staff and Board of Trustees of the Desmond-Fish Public Library support the statement of the American Library Association condemning systemic racism and social injustice.