LIBRARY HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
Enjoy our reading garden.
The Ballston Spa Public Library was chartered in 1893 by the State of New York, to serve the residents of the village of Ballston Spa. It existed in various locations throughout the village, until a permanent home was built for it in 1959. An addition was put on in 1971. The current building is two stories, each of which is accessible by wheel chair separately. The Village of Ballston Spa now has approximately 5,556 residents, and is the county seat of Saratoga County.
Today only about 1/3 of the people who use the library are village residents. Another third reside in the adjacent township of Milton. The remainder come primarily from the townships of Malta, Ballston, Galway and Charlton.
Between 60 and 90% of library funding still comes from the village in any given year. The towns of Milton and Charlton are regular contributors, as is the Ballston Spa Central School District, via budget proposition. A small amount is received annually from Saratoga County.
LIBRARY SERVICES
The library's collection of 77,801 items includes books, magazines, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, audio books, educational CD-ROMs, videos, pamphlets, maps, toys, and college catalogs.
- A cassette player, and slide and filmstrip projectors may be borrowed by special arrangement.
- Special circulating book sections include: large type books, literacy, Science and technology,parenting help, and board books for very young children.
- Interlibrary loan access is available through membership in the Southern Adirondack Library System.
- Road Runner public Internet access is provided courtesy of Time Warner Cable.
- Patrons have access to 4 computers and 2 children's computers.
- Pre-school story hours are held regularly, as is an annual summer reading program.
- Used Book and Magazine Sales are held seasonally.
- The library's meeting room holds approximately 100 people. It is available for use by non-profit groups.
- Commonly used federal and state tax forms are available from January through April. Others can be copied from a book of masters.
- The front entrance houses a locking exhibit case. It can be used for displays at the librarian's discretion.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
 Dr. Bruce M. Manzer Collection on Saratoga County |
Local History Collection. 6 shelves of books. 8 boxed volumes of pamphlets. 60 folders of clippings, including 7 on Abner Doubleday. Name card file. 38 drawers. County-wide in scope. Goes up to the early 1900s.
City Directories. 1893-present, approximately every other year. Mainly Ballston Spa coverage, but some include Mechanicville, Stillwater, Rock City Falls, Middle Grove, or Saratoga Springs.
Ballston Journal. April 1847 to present (most on microfilm). Marriages and deaths indexed up to 1900. Subject index covers 1847-1865. For most of its history, this newspaper has been a weekly publication. From 1913 through 1938, it was a daily. Missing years: 1851-4, 1873-4, 1909-11, and the 1st half of 1930.
Saratoga County Epitaphs. 2 reels of microfilm. Townships are groupedinto volumes (5 in all), with an index at the end of each volume. Compiled in the 1870s by C. E. Durkee.
Family histories. Donated. Of varying quality!
Addington, Arnold, Brown (Valentine), Cavert, Champagne-Nadeau-Choquette-Carpentier, Chatfield, Curtis, Denton, DeRidder, Ellsworth, Gates-Strong-Hurd, Goodrich-Ames, Hanson-Johnson-Woodward, Harwood, Kennedy (of Edinburgh and Ft. Plain), Lienau, Mead, Montagne, Ostrander (family newsletters), Planck, Rouze, Saint John, Seitler-Gifford, Schermerhorn, Stever, Stewart (Angus), Taylor (John Hemstreet), Underhill (Amos), Waterbury, Wood (David)-Nash, Woodward
Kayaderosseras Allotment Maps. 1708, 1771. Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, and Warren Counties of today.
Beers' county atlases for 1866 and 1876, showing names of property owners.
Church Records. In Notebooks.
Ballston Center Church. Compiled 1940 by Grace VanDerwerker.
Burnt Hills Baptist Church. Members' names from 1820-1920.
Freehold Church, Charlton. Communicants 1786-7.
Congregational Church, Greenfield. Baptisms 1792-1811.
1st Presbyterian Church, Ballston Spa. Communicants 1783-1820.
Old Dutch Reformed Church, Schuylerville. 1790-1857.
Ballston Spa Cemetery. Records up to 1995. Wall map of cemetery,1983. County cemeteries. Wall map. Index. Quaker records. Marriages 1795-1855. Saratoga births 1811-22. Milton deaths and other records 1848-64. Notebook. Revolutionary Soldiers' Graves in Saratoga County. Notebook. Marriages & Birth Records as recorded by Rev. James Dempster. In and around Saratoga County. 1778-1803. Notebook.
Censuses: Town of Milton, 1850. Notebook.
Ballstown, 1790 Heads of Families.
Town of Half Moon, 1790 Heads of Families.
Towns of Clifton Park, Half Moon, Waterford, & Niskayuna, 1850.
More comprehensive census records can be found in the offices of
the county historian and county clerk.
Dr. Bruce M. Manzer Saratoga County Collection. While working on his doctorate, Dr. Manzer amassed a large collection of books and other materials related to the County. They were donated to the library in1977, and remain intact. 12 shelves of books, 5 shelves of non-book materials, framed pictures. Of special interest are:
Saratoga County Bibliography. 1st edition, 1977. Revised edition, 1996.
Over 400 pages of listings of works relevant to Saratoga County and located in research facilities all over the United States are arranged by subject and indexed.
City Directories. 1871-1925. Mainly Saratoga Springs, though the earlier ones often include some county-wide coverage.
Queries: Only very specific requests for research can be accommodated. E-mail can be addressed to Ballston Spa Library. Anyone who needs lengthy or general searches conducted may want to contact Chris Morley, consultant of history to the village, at the Village Office, 66 Bath St., Ballston Spa, N. Y. 12020, or Heritage Hunters The County Historian's Office is located at 40 McMaster St. in Ballston Spa. In addition, each township has its own historian.
THE BALLSTON SPA LIBRARY
21 MILTON AVE. BALLSTON SPA, NY 12020 518-885-5022
This page last modified: Wednesday July 02 2008