If you live in the Town of Bedford and have a Katonah mailing address, just bring in a photo ID (driver’s license, current passport, state employee ID card) with Katonah address, and we’ll issue you a card on the spot. Children under 16 must bring a parent or legal guardian. The minimum age for acquiring a card is age 5. (Children should be able to write their first name.) If you live elsewhere in Westchester, we can direct you to your home library in the town where you pay your residential taxes. If you live outside of Westchester, but work, own land, attend school or pay taxes in Westchester, you can go to the library supported by your (or your employer’s) tax dollars. If all else fails, the Westchester Library System will provide you with full library service for $75 per year.
The Katonah Library circulates most hardcover books, paperbacks and audiobooks for three weeks. New fiction, new fiction, and DVD series go out for two weeks. Express books (7-day new books), magazines, and DVDs circulate for a week. Children’s books and audiobooks can be kept for three weeks. Many items are renewable unless someone else is waiting.
The Katonah Library has a book drop just outside our main public entrance. The book drop is always open, and you may return any library materials there except for musical instruments and Interlibrary loans (materials borrowed from outside Westchester County). The drop is emptied at least twice a day — your library item will be taken off your record immediately.
All types of library media may be returned to other libraries in Westchester County with the exception of interlibrary loans (material borrowed from outside Westchester County) and musical instruments.
Returning a book in the drop is fine!
Yes, you can! Please visit this page for more details on making an online payment.
Books, magazines, pamphlets, DVDs, music CDs, and audiobooks may be renewed one time either by telephone or in-person when the library is open, or online 24 hours a day. Renewals are not available for items on hold for someone else. You may renew an item yourself by checking into your account at the top of the Westchester Library System homepage.
Most Katonah residents with school-aged children are served by the Katonah-Lewisboro School District, which is comprised of three elementary schools, John Jay Middle School, and John Jay High School. For those of you filling out college applications, financial aid forms, or income tax forms, Katonah-Lewisboro is School District 316. A small percentage of Katonah’s children attend schools in the Bedford Central School District.
The Library has pop-up book sales periodically, which we will advertise in our eblast, on Instagram/Facebook.
The library will accept book donations periodically and will announce a request for donations in our eblast and on social media. If unsure, please call the library to check if we are currently accepting. 914-232-3508
Teens are needed year-round to assist the YA and Children’s Librarian with programs and keeping their dedicated Library spaces organized. If you are interested in helping, please call us at 914-232-3508 or drop in.
The Library’s Grandfather clock is over 8 feet tall. It was probably built
before 1895, and must have been an expensive item:
the clockworks are intricate, and the cabinet work equally so.
The clock was donated to the Library by a townsperson in the 1920s,
and has guarded the readers’ time continually since then.
The clock is wound with a key once a week. Called a “planter’s clock, ”
it shows the phases of the moon; the Westminster chimes
play on the quarter hours, and solemn bongs mark the hours.
Generations of children have stood in awe of both the sound and the stern gentleman’s face carved above the lintel.