Mission & History

Row of books on shelves at the library

Mission Statement

The Ulysses Philomathic Library is an educational and cultural resource center which strives to meet the informational, creative and leisure needs of all community residents. To that end, the library will provide a broad collection of materials and access to a wide network of contemporary resources and media.

History

The original Ulysses Philomathic (“love of learning”) Library was formed in 1811. Members’ books were kept in Hermon Camp’s store. The Library was re-established in 1935 when the north wing of the Masonic Temple was deeded to the Library. In October of 2001 the Library moved to its present location at 74 E Main Street in the Village of Trumansburg. We serve residents of the town of Ulysses, providing our patrons with popular reading material, informational text and resources, access to computers and research databases, and recreational and literacy programming for all ages. We are a member of the Finger Lakes Library System.

Strategic Plan 2023-2027

Vision

Our vision is to provide a library that is the heart of the community, offering our patrons a world of learning, wonder, and meaningful experiences. We will provide modern library services and a diverse and up-to-date collection within a kind and inclusive environment that is welcoming to all. We believe, through the values of volunteerism, intellectual freedom, and progressive innovation of technology, our library will meet this vision.

The primary purpose of a library strategic plan is to create, communicate, and measure our organizational goals for the service we want to provide within our community. The goals laid out in this plan reflect our values as an organization: we strive to meet them over the next five years.

This plan was developed after the Library Board of Trustees solicited community feedback about our services, collection, and building. We will use the responses gathered through this survey and continue to seek community input as we strive to meet our goals over the next five years.

Roles

In pursuit of our mission, UPL has three key roles in the community:

  • UPL as an educator: We support the education of all community members by providing information, diverse physical and digital collections, access to technology, and programming for all ages.

  • UPL as a community resource: We connect our library patrons: with one another by providing free meeting spaces, and with other community-serving organizations through our partnerships.

  • UPL as an inviting place: We provide a welcoming environment to all, serving the diverse needs of the community through well-designed and maintained indoor and outdoor spaces.

Goals

Focused on our mission and key roles, we strive to achieve continuous growth and improvement in these key areas over the next five years:

Relevant and innovative library services

  • maintain a diverse and up-to-date physical and virtual collection

  • provide robust programming and events for the community focusing on learning, creativity, and connection

  • optimize indoor and outdoor spaces that meet the community’s changing need

Community engagement and support

  • collaborate with community partners to expand the reach of the library and amplify other services that will benefit our patrons

  • promote membership and volunteerism

  • tell our story: increase awareness of library services through print and social media

Library as a community space

  • create an environment that is welcoming to all

  • balance the diverse needs of our patrons as they come together in one space

  • staff the library with well-trained and knowledgeable employees