Orangeburg Library opened in a train station, near the tracks on Highview Avenue April 1, 1962. The station, which served the West Shore Railroad, was owned by Irving Maidman of Nyack, who leased it to the Library.
The Library moved into its present site, in the former Orangeburg School on Greenbush Road, in 1973. The Orangeburg School, a historical building, was completed in 1926. On September 25, 1942, about 300 residents were called to a meeting at the Orangeburg School (now the library) and told the U.S. Government was buying their land, which they could buy back at the same price at the end of the war.
After the war, the Orangeburg School served the children of Shanks Village. (Camp Shanks, the largest Army port of embarkation in the United States, was converted into Shanks Village to serve the personnel who had staffed the camp and their families. Shanks Village also served as low income housing for the returning GI’s.)
The Orangeburg Library was renovated in 1998. And its current collection holds over 30,000 books, 4,000 dvds as well as CDS, magazines, databases and ebooks. The Library is a thriving community center, offers educational and cultural events, and serves all of Rockland County.
