Library gets $100,000 pledge

Gift is conditional on approval of bond vote Warwick — How’s this for a gift? A local couple has pledged $100,000 to the Albert Wisner Public Library Foundation’s Capital Campaign for a new library. The announcement of the gift comes six weeks before the library’s referendum on March 8, when voters will decide whether to fund a 20,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art library building for $8.5 million. The gift is one of many made to the library through its foundation for the new building. It is the largest single monetary donation in the campaign to raise $500,000. The Friends of the Albert Wisner Public Library recently pledged $25,000 to the library’s Capital Campaign, which is in addition to $100,000 raised through their volunteer efforts. The library also applied for a New York State grant for more than $100,000 for library construction. The philanthropic couple, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the gift would help the library continue to contribute to an informed citizenry. “Wisner Library has served Warwick well for 80 years,” the couple remarked in a statement. “The new facility, and the enhancements made possible by the efforts of the Library Foundation and the Friends, will enable Wisner Library to continue to serve well in the demands of the 21st century. A strong, publicly supported library contributes to an informed citizenry and a vital democracy. We are privileged to be members of a community which so highly values its library.” The building project has been in the works for some time. Leyland Alliance, builders of Warwick Grove, donated the land for the new library on McFarlane Drive, across from Park Avenue Elementary School. Rosemary Cooper, director of the library, saw relevance in the amount of the gift. “This commitment resonates with us, since it is in the same amount as the Wisner Family gift which established the library in 1927,” said Cooper. “The population of Warwick is much greater now, as are the services expected of the library. We at the library work constantly to meet those expectations and welcome all the support we receive from our community.”