A History of NOPL@Cicero
The first library began in Cicero in 1890 when a Library Association was formed and sold shares to members of the community. These shares entitled any holder to “free use of all books in the library while he complies with its rules and regulations”. Books were housed in what was then Melville Jackson’s General Store. The association dissolved two years later but in 1900 a Book Club was formed under the leadership of Grace McCulloch. In 1909 there were 13 members.
In 1923 the Utopia Club, a group begun in 1913 to promote interest and growth in the community, started a movement to establish a library in Cicero. They put on suppers and plays to raise money. In 1930 the Alethean Club was organized at the home of Laura Fox. The members were very active in helping the Cicero Library and together with the Utopia Club they formed a Library Guild. They were offered a room in the new school and thus began the Cicero Library. It opened on February 1, 1924 under a provisional charter.
The Guild, which townspeople could also join, was instrumental in funding a new library in 1939 when the school needed the room used by the library. At a cost of $1,700 a colonial style building was built on the lot next to the village school on land donated by Mrs. Rose Lawton and the school district. Many members donated their time in helping as librarian until a regular librarian was hired. A fund drive for expansion in 1978 resulted in an endowment by Roy Pickard, for whom the library was renamed.
In 1995 the residents of North Syracuse, Cicero and Brewerton voted to form the Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL). This established a single library district to provide more cost effective and better library service. A new 10,000 square foot library located at 8686 Knowledge Lane, about 1˝ miles north of the Route 31 intersection, opened in 1999, complete with a Community Room, story hours, special programs and internet access.
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Northern Onondaga Public Library