About Us

Library Hours  How to Find Us   Staff  

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Library Hours (new hours starting Monday Aug 29)

How to Find Us

The new library is located at 133 Farmer's Turnpike, which runs parallel to Main Street in Gardiner. Turn South on Arch Street and you'll see our long driveway leading to the parking lot and building. Here's a Mapquest map that shows a star where the turn for the Library driveway is located.

Staff

Nicole Lane

Nicole Lane decided to pursue a second career after owning an artisan bread bakery in Brooklyn, New York for seven years.  Rediscovering children's literature after her daughter was born Nicole decided to go back to school to get a dual masters degree in literacy and general education.  After obtaining her degree from Bank Street College Nicole accepted the job as children's librarian at the Gardiner Library allowing her to combine her love of teaching with her passion for children's books.  One of the early highlights of Nicole's job was the 2009 summer reading program.  Nicole worked with over 200 campers from the Gardiner Recreation Program.  The campers were introduced to various American artists and then made art inspired by the artists studied.  The program ended with a terrific art show displaying the art created by the campers.  After being at the library for almost 2 years Nicole gets a thrill watching the younger children grow and progress through the various age appropriate story times.  Recognizing that the library can be a great place for community building Nicole has also reached out to local volunteers who have helped develop on-going programs such as yoga for children, an after-school chess club and knitting club. Nicole is also the interim Library Director.

Melissa Fairweather
Melissa Fairweather began volunteering in libraries as a child and at the Gardiner Library in 1989. She became a paid employee in 2000 and is currently Coordinator of Volunteers and Public Relations. She gained on-the-job experience for these positions as a volunteer for La Leche League, where she has served as a local Leader since 1987, as well as Area Leaders’ Letter Editor and Area Coordinator of Leaders for New York State East and Regional Administrator and Division Publications Administrator for La Leche League of the Eastern United States. Melissa has a Bachelor’s degree in Math from SUNY Binghamton and graduate credits towards a Masters in Special Education.

Andrew Sosnowski

Andrew was a longtime volunteer dating back to the old library before joining the staff. His responsiblities include the library website, the music collection, and the Science Fiction/Fantasy collection. If you have any suggestions or comments about these please contact him at the library.
He has a background in Computers and in Fine Art especially Painting.

   Christopher Wheeling

Christopher Wheeling works part-time at the Gardiner Library, covering the Saturday shift and hosting the occasional poetry events there. He was recently tasked with developing programs for job-seekers at the library. He graduated from SUNY New Paltz in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. On his own time, he writes poetry and fiction, with a focus on surrealism and the absurd. He has two poems published thus far, in the local publications Chronogram and Home Planet News. (Photo: Mike Jurkovic, taken at the Howland Culture Center’s Calling All Poets reading series)

Erin Barnard
Erin Barnard began working part time at the Gardiner Library in April 2010. She currently works full time at the Sojourner Truth Library at SUNY New Paltz and recently received a Masters Degree in Library Science from SUNY Albany. Her responsibilities at the Gardiner Library include interlibrary loan and maintaining the collection of leased books. Erin grew up in the Finger Lakes area of New Yok State and currently lives in Gardiner.

Amy Coté
Amy brings 10 plus of years of public library experience to her current position. She has galloped thoroughbreds in North Carolina, been a substitute teacher, veterinary technician, research editor, freelance illustrator and currently does website design as well. Amy grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and loves the arts, traveling and studying languages. She studied painting at Bennington College and at the New York Academy of Art; has a certification in Web Page Graphic Design and a TEFL certification from Interlingue Language School in Rome, Italy. Amy also has a B.S. in Visual Arts from SUNY Empire State and has been attending graduate courses at SUNY New Paltz as she works toward her MFA degree. Her paintings have been shown at Art Upstairs gallery in Phonecia, The Rosendale Cafe in Rosendale and Ariel Gallery in NYC, to name a few. Amy manages the Gardiner library’s magazine collection and is developing the Fine and Performing Arts collection.

Kären Vassell
Kären Vassell has been a part-time employee since 1992. Her primary task is to build and maintain the public internet network. She has worked with computers in academic and commercial settings since 1966 and has an AAS in Information Science.