Libraries are community gathering places.
However, more than just a building housing a collection of books and the latest in computer technology, libraries are increasingly becoming places where families and people of all generations gather. This assemblage of individuals provides fertile ground for the exchange of ideas and experiences, histories and traditions. In 1999, the Mohawk Valley Library Association introduced a series of programs on Sacred Traditions in the Mohawk Valley. Supported with public funds from the folk arts program of the New York State Council on the Arts, the series presented the sacred traditions of four groups or individuals from the Mohawk Valley in fourteen member libraries. Participating artists were Eloisa Perez-Suarez, Yakov Ferens, Nefisa Khanshab, and the Mount Olive Baptist Church Male Chorus.