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TUCKAHOE, N.Y. - Every time former Tuckahoe Mayor Phil White passes by the Tuckahoe Library, he smiles.
"I was the one who secured a $900,000 federal grant to have that building built," White said proudly. "The library folks were nice enough to hang my picture in the new building with a small plaque."
White was just one of the Tuckahoe residents who packed the Generoso Pope Foundation building on Thursday night to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Tuckahoe Library.
The Tuckahoe Library was founded by the Women's Club of Eastchester in 1912. A collection of roughly 2,400 books was housed in two rooms on the second floor of the building which was the Tuckahoe Village Hall.
In 1927 the library received a charter from New York State and that same year the library moved to the first floor of the building and started with an annual budget from the village of $3,000.
The library would remain in that space until 1979 when it moved to its new home on Columbus Avenue. In the 33 years since, the library has added computers, ebooks and dozens of programs for adults and kids.
One of those kids is Alexander Donovan, who at 18 months old is a big fan of the library, according to his mom Laura.
"We love it here," Laura Donavan said. "It is such a great library with so many programs."
Eastchester Town Board member Joe Dooley came to the birthday party on behalf of the town board. "100 years is a big milestone, and it's great that so many people came out to celebrate the library," Dooley said. "The library is a great service in Tuckahoe."
Mayor Steve Ecklond gave high marks to the library and its newly appointed director Swadesh Pachananda. "We are very proud to have her as Director, she is a wonderful person," Ecklond said.
Pachnanda said the celebration is the first in a year long schedule of events the library has planned. "We plan on having many events, with something for everyone," Pachnanda promised.
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