Kathy (Adam) Browne enters her 47th year of involvement with the CPH Library in 2026. During those years she’s been a librarian, an assistant director, liaison to the FOL Board of Directors, and upon her retirement, a co-president of the board and a substitute librarian, now specializing in the Children’s Library. During those years, she also volunteered for many Friends activities and served as the board’s representative for Outreach and Books for Babies.
Kathy says that she’s loved her job, seldom even considering anything else, and that some of the very best experiences of her career were involved one way or the other with the Friends.
Kathy’s first day as an employee of CPH Library was in March of 1980. Her people skills were recognized when she was promoted to assistant director, and again in 1995 when then-Director Josephine (Jo) Piracci asked her to begin the process of forming a new Friends of the Library group (there had been an FOL whose purpose was to raise money and advocate for our first dedicated library building; when their mission was complete, that group disbanded 1985).
Kathy began her task of organizing a Friends group by inviting eight members of the community to join the effort. Kathy chose people who loved the library and who were collaborative and creative problem solvers (one of whom was Jo Anne Robbins, who only stepped down from the board at the end of 2025!) Since our inception as a registered 591(c)(3) organization in 1996 and always with Kathy’s support and involvement, the Friends have grown strong in membership and in the impact of our support to the library.
As she began the task of forming a Friends group, Kathy took advantage of “cheat sheets” developed by the Friends of the Library USA, and relied on strong support from library administration and the Board of Trustees. She knew intuitively that if the Friends were to be successful, it had to be fun to be a Friend.
When initial planning with the eight “originals” was complete, Kathy and the board invited the community to a reception where board members had set up tables for various committees and activities. While people circulated and enjoyed the reception, the table crew actively recruited not just members, but also volunteers! From a small group of interested residents recruited over thirty years ago, we’ve grown to over 600 members, and we continue to have success recruiting wonderful volunteers.
The CPH Friends have long been recognized as a strong and successful organization by the New York State Library Association. Over the years, Kathy responded to requests from NYLA to visit with and mentor new or struggling Friends groups. She even spent several years as a member of the NYLA Friends Roundtable, the precursor to NYLA’s current Friends Section.
Although Kathy has stepped down from the Friends board of directors, she remains a valued volunteer and advocate. When asked what she thinks are key reasons why our organization has been so successful, she cites good planning and organization and the early recognition of our role as a support to, rather than a manager of the library. That, and the people.
Over the years of CPH Friends’ existence, the world has changed tremendously, and the organization has changed with it, but the people – board members and volunteers alike – have remained the same: people who love the library, are collaborative, and are creative problem solvers. Kathy believes that as long as we continue to find those people, the CPH Friends will be in it for the long haul.