RCS Community Library | Kids Out and About Albany

RCS Community Library

Address: 
95 Main St,
Ravena , NY , 12143
Phone: (518) 756-2053
42° 28' 21.3348" N, 73° 48' 27.8316" W
Contact name: 
.
Business/organization type: 
Seasons / holidays: 
Ages for which our activities are most appropriate: 
RCS Community Library is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serving the residents of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District in southeastern Albany County, New York State.

LIBRARY MISSION

To establish and maintain the RCS Community Library as a forum for information and ideas, providing print and digital resources and public programs for the interest, enjoyment, and enlightenment of all the people of the community.

THE LIBRARY

RCS Community Library is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serving the residents of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District in southeastern Albany County, New York State.  Its service area includes the southern part of the Town of Bethlehem (Selkirk, South Bethlehem, and part of Glenmont), all of the Town of Coeymans, and the southeastern corner of the Town of New Scotland (Feura Bush) in Albany County; and the riverside hamlet of New Baltimore in the Town of New Baltimore in Greene County.

The Library’s loan collection includes books for all ages, audio books on tape and on CD, graphic novels, videos in VHS and DVD formats, music CDs, and magazines.  Ebooks and audio books in many formats can be downloaded.  There are 5 public access computers in the library. They have Internet access; games; and word processing, spreadsheet and Powerpoint capability.  The library computers can retrieve medical information, magazine articles, newspapers, encyclopedias, literary criticism, practice exams, telephone directories, and other current information from subscription databases.  The Library also offers wireless Internet access.

The Library is a member of the Upper Hudson Library System, which encompasses the public libraries of Albany and Rensselaer Counties.  Through UHLS, its patrons can use Inter-Library Loan to access materials from other types of libraries in the Capital Region and from libraries across the country.

THE COMMUNITY

The Library District, located south of Albany, is a mix of residential hamlets, farmland, and heavy industry, shares its boundaries with the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District.  Its boundary on the east is the Hudson River and it reaches ten miles inland. Its commercial districts are small, and many residents travel north or south for employment, services, and material needs. Total population in Census 2000 was 14,505.

Politically, the District includes the southern half of the Town of Bethlehem, the entire town of Coeymans, the Feura Bush corner of the Town of New Scotland (all Albany County), and the riverside residential hamlet of the Town of New Baltimore in Greene County. Within the four towns, the village of Ravena is the only incorporated municipality.

The northern half of the district, in the Town of Bethlehem directly south of Albany, is projected to develop residentially between 2010 and 2040. The southern part in the Town of Coeymans is noted for limestone outcroppings which supply the local cement and construction industries but inhibit residential development. However, the modernization of the LaFarge cement plant, which is scheduled to begin this year and end by 2015, will bring as many as 800 temporary workers into town.