It is not all work (construction) and no fun at Crestwood this summer.
In this edition, you'll find among other items, construction details plus ways to have fun while reading!
Summer Bat Walk with Gotham Bat Conservancy and Cottontail Cottage Rehabilitation - Sat Sep 12 at the American Museum of Natural History
Summer Interns 2026
Bingo! Everyone Wins with Reading to Celebrate the Centennial
Take an Ad for our Next Centennial Concert
Sun, Sep 27 Local Musicians at Asbury United Methodist Church
Like One Type of Book? Find Another Like It!
Positive Psychology Explores Personal Beliefs
Send Us a Postcard - We'll Get Them Even When Closed
Update on Ways to Get Communications About Crestwood Library - Offline During Construction
Remember to Join YPL's Summer Reading Challenge
MESSAGE FROM BRANCH ADMINISTRATOR
Renovation Begins to Celebrate Centennial
Estimated reopening early fall after Phase 1
We're temporarily closed, yet activities and programs are still happening. While you can't walk in our doors, you can experience many of your favorite Crestwood Library programs - virtually, at Will & Riverfront libraries and off-site.
Staying connected is important during this special time so watch the YPL website and future emails from Crestwood Library to stay in-the-know.
Details on How to Stay Connected
WATCH Z ON ZOOM FOR CONSTRUCTION INFO (See above, under CONNECTIONS)
DETAILS
The library is expected to reopen in early fall for basic services
It is estimated to temporarily close again for Phase 2 in late 2027
New ADA-accessible restroom, wheelchair lift & ramp
PATRON SERVICES
Use your Yonkers Library Card at any of the 44 locations in the Westchester Library System (WLS).
Return items and borrow materials at any WLS library including Yonkers' own Grinton I. Will Library (10 minutes by car from Crestwood) or Riverfront Library
Attend in-person programs at Will and Riverfront, and other WLS locations
Details on Sun Sep 27 Gala Centennial Concert - Registration strongly recommended Register HERE
Ads Needed
The support of local business leaders and community members, including you, for this unique collaboration between Music at Asbury and the Crestwood Library will help offset the project costs. When your name or business is seen as a advertiser, you encourage others to participate as advertisers, too.
Music at Asbury already has Senator Shelley Mayer as a sponsor of its series. She has attended their concerts and believes in the important mission they are accomplishing with high-quality cultural opportunities to the community, free of charge.
For more info on advertising for the Gala Centennial Concert and the Music at Asbury series, click here or visit www.musicatasbury.com.
Learn More at Our Upcoming Sep 12 Bat Walk at the American Museum of Natural History, See Info & Registration Details Here
Z Baird (right), Branch Administrator, Crestwood Library; Briggitte Dix, Founder and Executive Director, Cottontail Cottage, present at Jun. 30 Batwalk
Background on Bats
Despite bats’ importance, they tend to get a bad rap. You might think of bats as ‘rodents with wings’ or generally dirty, I certainly did. But bats are actually one of the most important mammals for ecosystem survival and keeping their populations thriving is essential for the benefit of all. Gotham Bat Conservancy hosted a wonderful presentation about bats and threats to their population at the Crestwood Library.
Bats are paradoxical creatures. They have wings like a bird, but rather than feathers, they have a smooth membrane and the bone structure similar to that of a human's. When flying, they scoop with their wings rather than the flapping motion we’re all used to seeing. Additionally, there are more than 1,400 species of bats, making them one of the most diverse animals. Of these bats, only a certain type, called microbats, echolocate. But the ones that do use echolocation have their own distinct sound for different insects they look to catch, proving them to be quite intelligent.
Why Are Bat Populations Declining?
For years, bats have been very beneficial for humans, controlling both agricultural and general pest populations and helping with seed dispersal. This helped to make bountiful produce and saved farms and agricultural agencies $23 billion dollars a year. Now, a disease plagues the bat population and it is time for us to give back to our winged-mammal friends. White nose syndrome is an invasive fungus that grows on bats as they hibernate, feeding off the keratin in their wings, fur, and face. From 2007 to 2017, approximately 6 million bats died from the disease, making it the biggest mammal wipeout in history. This has caused a 90+% dropoff in population rates, and a 29% crop decline.
Wildlife conservancies, such as the Gotham Bat Conservancy, have been working to help get bat populations back to normal. The good news is that bats are already beginning to adapt to the fungus, but to fully become immune, it will take a very long time and a large effort on our part to get populations thriving again in North America.
How Can You Help?
For now, here are the best things you can do to help restore bat populations:
Support conservation efforts- Gotham Bat Conservancy (GBC) and Cottontail Cottage Rehabilitation, our partners for this event work to help to rehabilitate, track, and care for bats, and always appreciate your support. Their websites are linked below if you want to make a donation.
Help change the narrative around bats- no one will want to help save bats with the aforementioned “rodent with wings” stereotype in their head. When you meet someone with a negative picture of bats, encourage them to take the perspective of how useful they can be in ecosystems and farms.
Become a Citizen Scientist- when you see a bat in your area, video or photograph it to send to the GBC through their Citizen Science app. This helps them to track bat populations, which is the first step to helping them.
The bat population may have taken a big toll but there is still plenty of hope to bring back the flourishing community there once was.
Examples of archive items scanned by summer interns. At left, Rebecca's scan of office addition. Original document scanned by Jemma
How Our Interns Help
Summer interns are vital to the archives at Crestwood and Grinton I. Will libraries. We train interns in professional library skills for working with archive materials. In return they use those skills to perform essential work that otherwise might be delayed until a staff member is available. This also gives staff members time to tackle more in depth professional duties.
Here are profiles of two of our summer interns in 2026.
Rebecca Schlosser worked in the Grinton I. Will branch of YPL scanning Crestwood Library archival documents. Her supervisors were Michael Walsh and Jacqueline Leone. Rebecca, a 2026 graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, was an intern during her senior year. Scanning our archives was much needed and Rebecca created an organized system in the digital files. She completed the scanning of fragile 1950s and 1960s photographs that included the construction of the Children's room and the Staff room at Crestwood Library. Rebecca even took the time to organize the flash drives by identifying their contents.
Jemma Manville attended Sarah Lawrence College while an intern at Riverfront Library. Jemma worked tirelessly to scan and organize the PS 15 1975-76 Album. (PS 15 in Yonkers housed the original Crestwood Library.)
Both students were celebrated on Aug 6 by the Community Leadership Intern Program (CLIP) through the Sarah Lawrence College Community Partnership programs.
Online Book Club Explores Beliefs
Same world. Different beliefs. Different outcomes.
What Goodreads says about The Power of Beliefs, the next selection for the Positive Psychology Online Book Club, "The greatest predictor of your future is the beliefs you hold about the world. In this extraordinary book, world-renowned researcher and author Shawn Achor illuminates how beliefs change the math about what is possible and probable in our lives. And by changing the math, beliefs change our path.
"Drawing on two decades of research, as well as his work with NASA, the NFL, and over a third of the Fortune 100 companies, Shawn has discovered that the predictive power of beliefs has increased significantly. Beliefs about ourselves, money, the world, politics, faith, and work do more than shape the lens through which we see the world. They shape what happens next. Scientifically speaking, beliefs don’t just reflect reality. Beliefs bend reality."
Centennial Reading Bingo!
For Prizes - Bring Completed Cards to Crestwood after the Renovation
Everyone's a winner when you play Crestwood's Centennial Reading Bingo! Gillian Novoselsky, a Crestwood resident, put her creativity to work to inspire people to read more and more books for this year's Yonkers Public Library Summer Reading Challenge and to celebrate our Centennial.
Need an idea for your next book? Each square has a theme to inspire you to read more, research more and have more fun when your racking up the number of books you'll read. There are a few entries you will have to complete when we reopen to our refreshed space.
If You Like This, Read This!
We've got suggestions for you
Ever finished a really good book or series and thought, “What now?” With these handy suggestions, you don’t need to feel that way anymore! If you’ve enjoyed any of these popular books, here are some more you might love:
If you liked Harry Potter by J.K Rowling, read…..
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
For kids 8-14, the series follows 12-year old Sophie Foster, who one day is told by a strange teal-eyed boy that she is an elf. She then gets taken to a new and exciting magical world unlike anything she could have possibly imagined.
The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
When twin Alex Stowe gets deemed “unwanted” by his bland, uniform society, he leaves his family, home and everything he’s ever known to what he assumes is a death sentence. Instead, he is saved and brought to a land full of creativity unlike anything he has ever experienced. But of course, that doesn’t come without its challenges... or secrets.
If you liked Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, read…
Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan
7 half-bloods must unite to stop the primordial goddess Gaea from waking and destroying the world, completing their long-awaited prophecy. It contains fan favorite characters such as Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase
Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan
Zeus casts his arrogant son Apollo down from Olympus, in the body of a mortal acne-ridden teenager named Lester Papadopoulous. In order to regain his godhood, Apollo must embark on a quest to recover 5 ancient Oracles that have gone dark.
Lore by Alexandra Bracken
For teens still interested in Greek mythology, try Lore! The story follows Lore Perseous as she navigates the Agon, a seven year cycle in which 9 Olympian gods walk the Earth as mortals for a week, while the descendants of Greek heroes track down and kill them, for glory and the god’s power.
If you liked Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey or Diary of A Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, read…
Middle School (Worst Years of My Life) by James Patterson
Imaginative but rules-allergic protagonist Rafe Khatchadorain guides us through his hilarious and dramatic tale of bullies, crushes, field trips, and chaotic misadventures.
I Funny by James Patterson
Jamie Grimm wants to become the world’s greatest stand-up comic. Despite being orphaned and paralyzed from the waist-down in a tragic accident, he remains in good spirits and competes in comedic tournaments to achieve his goal.
For YA Readers…
If you liked A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, read….
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
17-year old Avery Grambs’ life gets flipped on its head seemingly overnight when a mysterious billionaire leaves 46.2 billion dollars to her in his will. Now, she must work with the man’s 4 grandsons to figure out why she was given this, while uncovering secrets best left forgotten.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
After a tragic accident, Cadence Sinclair returns to her family’s island off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. She is finally ready to put the past behind her. But something feels off this summer, and everywhere she turns, she finds lies.
If you liked The I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis, read…
Alan Gratz novels
Explores major historical events through the eyes of kids at a more mature reading level.
The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak
Death tells the story of little Liesel Meminger, who finds solace in stealing books and the beauty of words while her foster family hides a Jewish man in their basement.
If you liked the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, read…
Divergent by Veronica Roth
16-year old Beatrice Prior must choose between 5 factions divided on virtues: Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity, and Dauntless. When results come back and she has an aptitude for 3 factions she must choose between the safety of her family and the adventure she always craved.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
In a world where humans have conquered death, Scythes are tasked with killing people mercifully to control the population, When Citra and Rowan get taken on as apprentices to Scythe Faraday, the pressure is on both of them when an unexpected challenge gets thrown in their way.
Postcards - A Way to Stay Connected During the Centennial Construction
Extended through Year-End
We want to hear from you! While the library is closed we want to stay in touch. Send us a postcard from any place you visit - near and far.
We'll be using the pictures on the postcards to teach literacy through geography during our school visits this fall. All postcards will be forwarded to the Crestwood Crew during the closing. Our address is Crestwood Library, 16 Thompson St, Yonkers NY 10707.
Update on Crestwood's New Social Media Communications
We are growing! But "On Hold" during Construction
We've temporarily stopped posting on our new Crestwood-only social media channels on Instagram and Tiktok. You can still subscribe using the QR codes above so you'll start getting messages when our doors re-open.
This action doesn't prevent us from bragging about how, in such a short time, the growth in numbers to both channels introduced on May 25, 2026.
Since late May, we've had 286 followers join us on Tiktok and 76 on Instagram.
Many thanks to Ann Rakoff, Board Member, Friends of the Crestwood Library, for her generous donation to sponsor Connections for 2026. (She is one of the volunteers writing and sending Connections.)
Friends of Crestwood Library | 16 Thompson ST | Yonkers, NY 10707 US
