NRPL Board of Trustees
August 20, 2024
The Board of Directors of the New Rochelle Public Library (NRPL) is pleased to announce that it has hired Eugenia Schatoff as NRPL’s new Library Director, effective October 1, 2024. The appointment was made following a four-month nationwide search. Read full press release here.
July 1, 2024
Interviews were held with six applicants on June 24 and 25, 2024 and the field was narrowed to three finalists. The finalists will visit NRPL in mid-July for final interviews. As part of the process, each candidate will make a 30 minute presentation open to the community on Monday, July 22, 4:30 – 5:00 pm (Candidate A); 5:15 – 5:45 pm (Candidate B); and 6:00 – 6:30 pm (Candidate C). Presentations will take place in the Library’s Ossie Davis Theater.
June 18, 2024
Bradbury Miller actively recruited for the open Director position , mid April – the end of May. The slate of candidates was presented to the search committee and six applicants were selected for initial interviews to take place at the end of June
March 11, 2024
In mid-January, 2024, an RFP was sent to six firms to solicit proposals for executive search services to assist with the NRPL Board’s search for a new Library Director. Three proposals were received. The search committee reviewed the proposals and awarded the project to Bradbury Miller Associates, a leader in executive searches for libraries.
January 16, 2024
New Rochelle Public Library Seeks Proposals from Qualified Search Firms to Assist the Board of Trustees in Filling the Role of Library Director
The Board of Trustees of the New Rochelle Public Library (NRPL) has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit a qualified executive search firm to assist with the Board’s search for a new Library Director.
The executive search firm will specialize in recruitment for senior-level and executive management positions for public libraries. To be eligible for consideration, the proposing firm must demonstrate a pattern of successful completion of similar executive recruitment campaigns specified in the RFP. Details and the RFP itself can be found here.
This is an excellent opportunity for a highly qualified and experienced candidate to oversee the operations of a high-functioning library with a dedicated staff in a supportive, growing community.
The NRPL is an EEO/AA/ADA employer. All open positions will be posted on the City of New Rochelle Civil Service Page and all applications will be submitted to the Municipal Civil Service Commission, 515 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801.
Trustees
| Lucille Renwick | President | lrenwick@nrpl.org |
| Corey Galloway | Vice President | cgalloway@nrpl.org |
| Rhiannon Navin | Secretary | rnavin@nrpl.org |
| Tatiana Infante | tinfante@nrpl.org | |
| Fela Cortés | fcortes@nrpl.org | |
| Vera Salter | vsalter@nrpl.org | |
| Nancy Weinberger | nweinberger@nrpl.org |
2025-2026 Board of Trustee Meeting Schedule
Tuesday, March 4 – Special Board Meeting
Tuesday, March 3 – Special Board Meeting
Wednesday, February 25 – Special Board Meeting
Patrons may click on the links below:
Automatically generated subtitles (in English, Spanish, and other languages) are available in YouTube’s settings:
March 4, 2026 – Special Meeting
February 12, 2026 – Emergency Meeting
February 12, 2026
February 3, 2026 – Special Meeting
January 2, 2026 – Special Meeting
The following NRPL Committees will be meeting on the following dates via Zoom:
Topic: Community Relations
Time: Every month on the First Monday, until August 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81442640067
Meeting ID: 814 4264 0067
Recurring: Policy Committee Meeting (First Monday of the Month)
Time: Mondays, March 30, April 27, May 26 and June 29 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85662434010
Meeting ID: 856 6243 4010
Recurring: Buildings and Grounds Committee Meeting
Time: Fridays, September 5, October 3, November 7, December 5, January 9, February 6, March 6, April 3, May 1 and June 5 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85382208505
Meeting ID: 853 8220 8505
Recurring: Personnel Committee Meeting (Third Monday of the Month)
Time: February 17, 2026
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82006609313
Meeting ID: 820 0660 9313
Recurring: Budget and Finance Committee Meeting (Fourth Wednesday of the Month)
Time: January 28, February 25, March 25, April 22, May 27, June 24, July 22, August 26, September 23, October 28, November 25 and December 26 09:00 AM Eastern Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88109511743
Meeting ID: 881 0951 1743
Thursday, October 9, 6:00 PM: Board Retreat
Monday, July 14, 10:00 AM: Special Board Meeting (via Zoom)
Monday, June 9, 8:30 am: Special Board Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87612278117
Meeting ID: 876 1227 8117
July 23, 2024 – Special Meeting
April 23, 2024 – Special Meeting
November 27, 2023 – Special Meeting
- The Public Budget Hearing will begin at 7:00 pm followed by the monthly meeting at 7:30 pm
- The Public Budget Hearing will begin at 7:00 pm followed by the monthly meeting at 7:30 pm
- Based on notices and health advisories issued by Federal, State and Local officials, and pursuant to Executive Order 202.1 of the Governor of the State of New York, dated March 12, 2020, (updated on September 27, 2021) the February 10, 2022 meeting of the New Rochelle Public Library Board of Trustees will be convened in remote mode only. Members of the public can join the meeting here (with passcode: 026228) or by the link in the agenda.
Based on notices and health advisories issued by Federal, State and Local officials, and pursuant to Executive Order 202.1 of the Governor of the State of New York, dated March 12, 2020, (updated on September 27, 2021) the January 13, 2022 meeting of the New Rochelle Public Library Board of Trustees will be convened in remote mode only. Members of the public can join the meeting here or by the link in the agenda.
Patrons may click on the links below:
July 23, 2024 – Special Meeting
April 23, 2024 – Special Meeting
November 27, 2023 – Special Meeting
Special Meeting – May 28, 2020
July 14, 2025 – Special Meeting
June 9, 2025 – Special Meeting
May 1, 2025 – Special Budget Hearing
July 23, 2024 – Special Meeting
April 23, 2024- Special Meeting
August 11, 2016
September 8, 2016
October 13, 2016
November 10, 2016
November 10, 2016 – Addendum
December 8, 2016
BY-LAWS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NEW ROCHELLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
1.1 The New Rochelle Public Library (the “Library”) is a public library chartered in 1894. A copy of the Charter shall be affixed to these Bylaws as “A,” so that it may be considered during governance.
1.2 As a “school district public library,” the Library is governed by an independent Board of Trustees elected by the voters of the City School District of New Rochelle (the “District”).
1.3 As a public library chartered by the New York State Education Department, the Library has the power and authority to own real property, enter contracts, have employees, and exercise all the other powers set out in the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law and Article 5 of the Education Law.
1.4 Governance of the Library is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees (the “Board”), who shall adopt and, from time to time, review and revise these Bylaws to organize that governance.
1.5 The mission of the Library is to serve as a community resource that seeks to improve the life of every resident in our city. It is dedicated to encouraging learning in all stages of life, to protecting intellectual freedom and to providing fair and equal access to information.
2.1 As provided by the Charter, the Board shall consist of no less than five (5) and no more than eleven (11) trustees, the current number being seven (7).
2.2 As provided by Education Law Section 226, the Board is a decision-making body that operates by resolution.
2.3 No trustee is empowered to operate independently for the Library except as provided in these Bylaws and as authorized by a Board resolution.
2.4 The responsibility of the Board is to govern the Library in a manner consistent with law, regulations, the Charter, the Bylaws, and Board-approved policies.
3. Trustees: Election, Replacement, Terms, Termination
3.1 Trustees are elected by the voters of the District to serve a five-year term that starts on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the fifth year of service.
3.2 Vacancies created by resignation, removal, or death of a trustee are filled, by a vote of the Board, until the next election.
3.3 Trustees may serve two five-year terms. They must take a one year mandatory break before the option of running for another term is allowed.
3.4 Trustees must be residents of the District.
3.5 Candidates for election as trustee must be nominated by a properly prepared petition timely submitted to the District or may be written in on the ballot.
3.6 Candidates for election must complete a “Conflict of Interest” disclosure form prior to the start of their term and must take and file the Oath of Office within thirty (30) days after the start of their term.
3.7 Trustees who miss three consecutive meetings without an excused absence being noted in the minutes are deemed to have resigned. To be excused, Trustees must provide a written notice of the absence to the Board President prior to the meeting, or show such notice was impossible due to the circumstances.
3.8 Trustees may resign by submitting a written notice to the Board President; such resignation is not effective until accepted per a resolution noted in the minutes of a meeting.
4. The Board: Meetings
4.1 As required by the Education Law, the Board must meet no less than four times a year.
4.2 The first meeting after the election of trustees, shall be the Annual Meeting.
4.3 At the Annual Meeting, the Board shall elect officers as needed and confirm the schedule of regular meetings for the upcoming year.
4.4 The Board shall endeavor to ensure regular meetings shall occur every month. Special meetings may be called by the President or any three trustees with one day’s notice.
4.5 A majority of the full Board shall constitute a quorum to conduct business.
4.6 All Board meetings and committee meetings conducting Board business shall be noticed and conducted per Education Law Section 260-a and the Open Meetings Law.
4.7 Unless required by law or resolution, Board motions are carried by a majority vote at a meeting with a quorum.
4.8 Meetings shall be conducted per the most current version of Robert’s Rules of Order; however, failure to abide by strict parliamentary procedure shall not of itself be a basis to invalidate Board action.
4.9 The draft minutes of Board meetings shall be posted on the website of the library and made available in hard copy, upon request, no more than two weeks after the meeting. The draft minutes of an executive session shall be so posted within one week.
4.10 The Board shall maintain a “Board Calendar,” affixed as Schedule B, to organize the performance of certain obligations and routine Board duties at meetings, such as passing the budget. The Board shall vote on the calendar at the Annual Meeting. Amendment of such calendar shall not be an amendment of these Bylaws.
4.11 The default agenda, which may be altered by the Board as needed, for regular meetings shall be:
Establish quorum
Call meeting to order
Take attendance
Pledge of Allegiance
(Executive Session)
Resolve to adopt the agenda
Approve last meeting’s minutes
Regular Business
·WLS Representative report
·President’s report
·Director’s report
·Treasurer’s Report
·Board Committee reports
·Approval of Checks and Warrants
Resolutions
Old Business
New Business
Public Comment
Adjourn
4.12. At all times the Board shall be mindful of the regulatory requirements of operating a New York State Education Department-registered public library, which are affixed as Schedule C.
5. The Board: Officers
5.1 The Officers of the Board, who must be trustees, shall be President, Vice President and Secretary.
5.2 The President shall draft the agenda for meetings, preside over meetings, determine excused trustee absences to be noted in the minutes, and be the spokesperson for the Library when warranted.The President and Vice President shall appoint all committees and the President shall serve as ex-officio voting member of all committees except the Nominating committee.
5.3 The Vice President shall perform the duties of the President when the President is unavailable or as delegated by the President. In the absence of both the President and Vice President, the Board may designate a person to chair the meeting; such person may not be the Secretary.
5.4 The Secretary shall, with assistance from Library employees as confirmed by the Director, take the minutes of regular and special meetings, make available all Board documents as required by the Open Meetings Law, certify Board documents when necessary, ensure the timely notice of Board meetings, and ensure that all Board records are maintained in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
5.5 Board officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting to one-year terms. A candidate for each office shall be selected by a Nominating Committee appointed by the Officers of the Board (i.e., President, Vice President and Secretary), two months prior to the end of the fiscal year/Annual Meeting. Trustees will be notified of the Committee’s
5.6 No Trustee shall serve more than three (3) consecutive terms in the same office.
5.7 Board officers may be removed from office, but not as Trustee, by a simple majority vote.
6. The Board: Committees
6.1 The Board shall not use any committee to take action (neither by “committees of the Board” nor by an “Executive Committee”)
6.2 “Committees of the corporation” shall be used to conduct the analytical, generative, and responsive work of the Board.
Standing committees are:
·Budget and Finance – The responsibilities of the Budget and Finance committee are to: assess the proposed annual budget and prepare a recommendation to enable timely consideration by the full board, assess routine payables prepared by the Director and report to the full board as to their suitability for approval at regular meetings, assess and as needed recommend fiscal policy and internal controls to the board, assess and develop recommendations to the full board regarding mid-year changes to budget lines and emergency spending, and carry out further responsibilities as set by the board’s policies on internal controls, investment, financial reporting, audit, and develop an annual recommendation regarding the appointment of the Treasurer. The Treasurer is an ex-officio member of the Budget and Finance Committee.
·Buildings and Grounds – The responsibilities of the Building and Grounds committee are to: cause to be created and maintained an inventory of deferred maintenance, recommend projects from the inventory of deferred maintenance for action in the annual budget, work with appropriate employees of the Library to develop a regular facilities report with key metrics identified by the board, review needs and develop recommendations for capital projects, annually review insurance covering the Building and Grounds for appropriate levels and advice the board as to any changes, recommend to the board policies, procedures, budget and human capacity changes to ensure timely care and maintenance of the Library’s real property.
·Personnel –The responsibilities of the Personnel committee are to: work with the Director to support the ongoing development and recommendation to the board of policies and other actions governing the Library’s workforce, including: developing strategy and goals for collective bargaining, updating employee-related policy, relations with City Civil Service, assessing and recommending to the board necessary external resources for the desired management and work conditions of the workforce, and routine working conditions and compensation review. The Personnel Committee is also the committee that develops the process to select, annually evaluate, and take other employment-related action with respect to the Director. The activities of the Personnel Committee and any policy or actions they recommend to the board shall be included in a report at every regular meeting. It is expected that the Committee may from time to time need to further report or bring forward matters in executive session per Open Meetings Law Section 105 (e) and (f).
·Community Relations – The responsibilities of the Community Relations Committee are to recommend policy, plans and actions to the board that forge deeper partnerships with New Rochelle schools and other entities and organizations throughout the served community. As a major component of this responsibility, the Committee shall review and recommend to the board the development and maintenance of an ongoing Community Relations Strategic Plan, and shall develop, monitor, and regularly report to the board key metrics to measure the effectiveness of that Plan. Meetings of the Community Relations Committee shall, at the direction of the committee chair, include the Director and employees with responsibilities for community relations. The Community Relations Committee shall review and recommend to the board adoption of any report to the community issued per 8 NYCRR 90.2(b)(3) prior to publication.
6.3 Ad Hoc Committees may be created for specific purposes via a resolution of the board setting out their purpose, duration, and membership (including non-trustees). A common use of an Ad Hoc Committee may be for the nomination of a candidate to fill a vacancy, for the exploration of a slate of committees for the next year, for the review of an emerging issue, or for a specific event.
7. The Director
7.1 The Board shall employ a Director who meets the requirements of NYS Library 8 NYCRR 90.8.
7.3 The Director shall be the supervisor (directly or indirectly) of all other employees of the Library.
7.4 The Director shall prepare a proposed annual budget for the operation of the Library for consideration by the Board, and submit monthly and annual reports of the work of the Library, and perform such other duties as the Board shall direct.
8. Treasurer
The Board shall hire a compensated employee as Treasurer, who is an officer of the Library, but not a voting member of the Board. The Treasurer is responsible for oversight of authorized expenditure of Library monies, including tax monies, consistent with these By-laws, Library policy and state law. The Treasurer shall take an Oath of Office. The Treasurer is classified as an “exempt” position by the New Rochelle Civil Service Commission, and as such, serves at the pleasure of the Board.
9. Ethics
9.1 The Board shall govern the Library to operate in a manner consistent with the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association.
10. Indemnification
10.1 Consistent with the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, the Library shall indemnify its trustees, director, officers, employees, in any action that is made, or threatened to be made, a party to (other than one by or in the right of the Library), whether civil or criminal, on the basis of an action which the indemnified party performed any capacity at the request of the Library, or by reason of the fact that they were a trustee, director, officer or employee of the Library, against judgments, fines, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees actually and necessarily incurred as a result of such action or proceeding, or any appeal therein, if such trustee, director, officer or employee acted, in good faith, for a purpose which they reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the Library and, in criminal actions or proceedings, in addition, had no reasonable cause to believe that their conduct was unlawful.
10.2 The Library Board may secure such insurance as deemed consistent with the indemnification created by 10.1.
11. Amendments
11.1. These bylaws shall be reviewed every five (5) years and may be reviewed and amended by the Board at any time to reflect changes in statutes or policies.
11.3 Unless such revision is to comply with a law or regulation then in effect, all revisions shall be discussed and reviewed at a regular meeting, before being voted upon at the next regular meeting.
A Message Regarding December 10, 2022 Non-Library Event at the New Rochelle Public Library (issued December 18, 2022)
On Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022 a community event in honor of a young New Rochelle resident tragically killed by gun violence was held at the New Rochelle Public Library (NRPL) theater, and organized by New Rochelle community members. The intent of the program, and as it was presented to the Library, was to “bring awareness to black on black violence in the community that has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen if we do not address the problem and find a solution.”
The Library understood the program to be a collaborative effort of local organizations and leaders to bring unity to the community, and its goal is typical of the type of program for which we would normally make the Library’s theater available.
The Library had no knowledge that the Nation of Islam (NOI) was part of the program. NRPL does not condone nor support any organization that espouses hatred, bigotry, antisemitism or intolerance of any kind, and we do not invite such organizations to present within our facility. Had the Library known that NOI would be present, and participate, we would have asked for them to be removed from the program.
Read the full statement here.
| Physical Conditions Assessment of NRPL and HCL Presentation – October 8, 2020 – view here. |
| Statement by the NRPL Board of Trustees: June 29, 2020 |
The New Rochelle Public Library Board of Trustees joins with the Westchester Library System in condemning both the recent violence and the systemic injustice against Black people and people of color in the United States. We are committed to anti-racist practice and will use our skills and resources to advance the production of knowledge for social justice. We stand in solidarity with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Read their statement here. The Board also supports the Action Statement of the New York Library Association and New York Black Librarians Caucus, view here. |
The New Rochelle Library Board of Trustees will be attending this meeting to voice their concerns about the impact of the 11 Lawton Street development project on the New Rochelle Public Library. (Issued September 24, 2019)
Statement from the New Rochelle Public Library Board of Trustees on the Downtown Redevelopment (Issued on March, 28, 2018)
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Main Library
1 Library Plaza, New Rochelle, NY 10801
Phone: (914) 632-7878
| Monday | 9 am - 8 pm |
| Tuesday | 9 am - 8 pm |
| Wednesday | 10 am - 6 pm |
| Thursday | 9 am - 8 pm |
| Friday | 9 am - 5 pm |
| Saturday | 9 am - 5 pm |
| Sunday | 1 -5 pm |
| HOLIDAY CLOSINGS | Click here for 2026 schedule |
Huguenot Children's Library
794 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10804
Phone: (914) 632-8954
| Monday | 10 am - 5 pm |
| Tuesday | 10 am - 6 pm |
| Wednesday | 10 am - 5 pm |
| Thursday | 10 am - 6 pm |
| Friday | 10 am - 5 pm |
| Saturday | 10 am - 5 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
| HOLIDAY CLOSINGS | Click here for 2026 schedule |
