"...not withstanding the storm Monday night, January 17, 1887, the opera house was filled by the local citizenry to show their gratitude to Mr. Sherman for his munificent gift of the Sherman Free Library and its privileges to the community." 

Mr. Sherman provided the library with what was felt at the time to be a generous endowment to adequately maintain the library for all time. However, inflation made it impossible for the library to operate solely on the money from the original endowment and it now receives some support from the Village of Port Henry and the Town of Moriah.

The library was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1995. The library's varnished oak interior and original brass light fixtures remain intact. In addition to books, the library displays historic maps, photos, paintings, and other memorabilia.

The library is governed by a Board of Trustees as stipulated in the original deed presented by Mr. Sherman.

In 1975, the Board greatly expanded the library services by joining the Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System. The original library collection contained about 2500 books – today the collection is in excess of 14,000 volumes.

There are childrens' books, as well as adult, and an extensive reference section covering a wide range of topics. In addition, the 
C-E-F system provides access to other services such as talking books, video cassettes and technical services.

(All photos courtesy of Marcy Neville)

NEW ONLINE AUTOMATED SYSTEM
It is now possible to request books from home.

Go to the CEF web-site, www.cefls.org. Click on "Find Books," then click on "Search All Libraries." Type in the name of the author, title or subject you want. Check your spelling is nothing is found. It is not forgiving for misspelled words. It is also possible that no library has the item.

After you find the book you want, click on "Request Item" on the bottom right of the description. Enter the 14-digit barcode from your library and your PIN number. You can obtain your library card and PIN number from the library. Click on "Request." Please limit your requests to 10 items. The CEF van delivers books to the library every Friday and you will be called when the item arrives.

For more information call (518) 546-7461 or email shermanfreelibrary@yahoo.com.

We publish a bi-annual newsletter, generally in the Spring and Fall. The current  issue is March, 2007 – Vol. 5, Issue 1. The next issue is anticipated October, 2007. 

Click here to view / print our on-line newsletter.

Note:  This publication is in Adobe PDF format and may require a brief wait depending on
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