For more than a century, the people around Nineveh have had the pleasure of being served by the Nineveh Public Library.
What began as a hope turned into a reality on September 24, 1901 when a meeting was held to form the library. Three months later, the group received its provisional charter, and a permanent charter was obtained in 1906. By then, a collection of books had been growing larger and moving from home to home. A permanent location was needed.
Through the generosity of the Hobbs family, the library rented a 20 X 24 foot building to house the collection. The shingled one-room building originally housed a meat market, and it included a fireplace, making the library a small, but cozy place for readers of all ages to gather in the town. In 1911, the building was donated by Susan Humphreys allowing the library to continue to grow with more books for the people to borrow.
For the next 60 years the people of the Nineveh enjoyed the small, but useful library. But the residents realized you can only fit so many books into so much space. In 1971, the late Emma Brown made a sizable donation for a new building for the library. On June 18, 1972, the new Nineveh Public Library opened in its larger, but not large quarters. The building was dedicated to Miss Elma Blackmore, a friend of Emma Brown’s.
Through the years the collection has continued to evolve. A garden, bench, landscaping, and other amenities continue to add to the county’s smallest library in size. But the heart of the people of the community and the library staff and board continue to make this library large in size.
Gerald Smith
City of Binghamton/ Broome County Historian
