Tottenville Branch Library

The Philemon Literary Society, a women's club, and the men's Philo Debating Society discussed founding the first public library in the borough of Richmond in 1899. A mere three months later the Tottenville Library opened to the public, its collections offering about 230 volumes. Four years later, Tottenville became part of The New York Public Library, and in 1904 the branch moved into its present location on Amboy Road, an attractive one-story structure designed by Carrere and Hastings. Tottenville today serves a community of both established residents whose families have been on Staten Island for generations, and recently arrived young families.