Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in Setauket: A Profile
On Main Street facing the Setauket village green, the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library combines an 1892 building still in daily use with additions dating from the 1960s through the 2020s. The library describes itself as “Suffolk County’s oldest public library in terms of continuous community service from its original location,” and its own history page backs up the claim with a dated record that begins with a family loss.
Origins in 1889
According to the library’s history page, Emma S. Clark died on August 2, 1889. She was the niece of Setauket confectioner Thomas Hodgkins, who became president of the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library Association when it was incorporated in June 1891. The library opened on October 3, 1892, Clark’s birthday, after roughly eight and a half months of construction. The grounds, building, fixtures and 1,500 books together cost $12,000.
Anna Morand served as the first librarian, and Elizabeth Strong received the first library card. Hodgkins was too ill to attend the opening and died less than two months afterward.
Wikipedia’s entry on the Emma S. Clark Library adds that a $16,000 endowment covered future purchases and operating costs, and that the site previously held a tavern and general store run by Thomas S. Mount, father of the painter William Sidney Mount.
The original building
Wikipedia describes the 1892 building as Tudor Revival in style, a gabled structure whose main facade feature is a four-foot clock with Roman numerals. Inside, a leaded glass window titled Archangel Michael-1892, by Otto Heinigke and Owen J. Bowen, dominates the main reading room. An Untapped Cities guide to Setauket notes the same Tudor-style design, clock and glass window. The library’s own pages do not describe the architecture, so these details come from secondary sources.
Wikipedia lists the building on the National Register of Historic Places on July 20, 1973, as a contributing property in the Three Village Historic District. In 2014, the library’s history page notes, the chimney on the original building was restored.
The early decades
Community use grew quickly. A Ladies’ Library and Reading Club formed in 1896 and became the forerunner of the library’s present Book Discussion Group. By 1915 the 25-cent membership fee had been dropped, and in 1921 the New York Library Association awarded the library a prize for superior service. The 1992 centennial was marked on October 3, the anniversary of the opening day, according to the history page.
The library, in other words, was functioning as a public institution long before its modern services arrived.
A timeline of changes
Records on the library’s history page show a steady series of adaptations rather than a single large rebuild.
- 1913: electric lights installed.
- 1915: membership fees, by then 25 cents, were eliminated, and the library was certified by New York State.
- 1945: renovations improved lighting and heating, added indoor plumbing and opened the book stacks to the public.
- 1966: a two-story addition added a fiction area and a downstairs community room.
- 1982: reopening after a second expansion that voters had approved in 1978.
- 2000: a new Children’s Library, expanded adult services and more parking.
- 2021 to 2023: a terrace of about 800 square feet, a reimagined main reading room and a Library Cafe.
Services changed in parallel. Children’s story time began in 1956, the first telephone arrived in 1958, borrower records moved to a computer database in 1983, the library launched a website in 1997, and a Library of Things collection started in 2019. A Seed Library followed in 2024.
What the library offers today
The library’s home page gives the address as 120 Main Street, Setauket, with a phone number of (631) 941-4080. Posted hours are Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Library Cafe, listed on the same page as Level Up Kitchen, is open Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
By the library’s own count, it holds more than 200,000 items and serves a population of over 48,000. The services menu is wide:
- A Library of Things, organized into eight categories that include crafts and kits, outdoors, photo and video, music and sound, and tools and household items.
- Museum Exploration Passes and discounted tickets.
- A free seed collection.
- Meeting rooms, office equipment and technology help.
- Online classes through services such as Brainfuse, Creativebug, Learning Express, Muzzy, Pronunciator and Universal Class.
- A Veterans History Project, a Local Focus collection of local authors, and a Global Studies Collection.
- Senior bus service and homebound services.
- A social work service, staffed on Thursdays by a Stony Brook student intern.
Programs for particular audiences
Several offerings are aimed at specific groups. The home page lists a Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award for readers in grades 6 through 12, a Kids Community Service program, and a Veterans Board alongside the Veterans History Project. Voter registration information is posted on the same page. Untapped Cities reports an annual Local Author’s Reception for published authors from the surrounding villages, which pairs with the library’s Local Focus collection of work by area writers.
For older residents, the senior bus service and homebound services are listed as separate items, although the home page gives no details of routes or eligibility, so those need to be confirmed with the library directly.
Books and digital collections
Beyond the print shelves, the home page points to a catalog search, a new-items list, e-books and e-magazines, and research databases. Video games were added to the teen and children’s collections in 2016, and during 2020 the library expanded its online offerings in response to the pandemic. Environmental programs round out the calendar; the page mentions recycling events, including a collection of plastic film.
Museum passes
The museum passes page sets out the rules in detail. Adults aged 18 and older with a library card in good standing may reserve passes up to 30 days ahead, one pass per day, and no more than one visit per month to any given museum. Print-on-demand passes are valid only on the printed reservation date and must be printed, because most museums do not accept phone or tablet versions. Pick-up passes are collected at the Circulation Desk and carry a $10 daily late fee, and a $50 replacement fee applies to a lost or damaged pass.
The page does not publish a full written list of participating museums. Image labels on it suggest the Long Island Museum, Old Westbury Gardens, the Intrepid, the Vanderbilt Museum, the Cradle of Aviation and MoMA, and the reservation site is the place to confirm the current roster.
Programs this fall
The home page, read in mid-October 2026, listed Halloween programs, AI Basics workshops with sign-up required, programs for America’s 250th, drop-in children’s activities with no pre-registration, a veterans program, and recycling collection events. Program calendars change weekly, so the library’s own events page is the reliable source for dates. Eligibility for a library card is handled through the library’s sign-up page; the pages read for this article did not state residency requirements.
Local history and the library
The building also anchors local research. The Three Village Historical Society’s about page states that its archival material is kept in the Captain Edward R. Rhodes Memorial Collection of Local History, housed in the library. A walking guide published by the society, reviewed by TBR News Media, ends its route at the library. That guide begins on Main Street in front of the Setauket School.
Related reading
Readers curious about the surrounding area can consult the neighborhood guide to Setauket and East Setauket and the explanation of how the Setauket area names differ.
This is general information about a public institution and is not an endorsement.
Hours, programs and prices change; confirm details with the official sources linked above before visiting.
Sources
- Emma S. Clark Memorial Library (home)
- Emma S. Clark Library: Library history
- Emma S. Clark Library: Museum passes
- Library of Things, Emma S. Clark Library
- Wikipedia: Emma S. Clark Library
- Untapped Cities: Emma S. Clark Library, Setauket
- Three Village Historical Society: About
- TBR News Media: New walking tour guide by TVHS
