MORAVIA #- From an early age Leslie Joshi, the new director of the Powers Library in Moravia, was fascinated by books and all the wonderful knowledge and potential they contained.

“I think I was first influenced by the fact that my father was a history professor,” said the Seattle native. “Our house was always full of books.”

Early on, Joshi made her passion for books a regular part of her life, volunteering in her elementary school library, a tradition she kept up through her college years.

“An interesting thing when I was growing up,” Joshi recalled, “is that Bill Gates helped out at the same library I did. He was a few years older than me, and I didn't know him. But it is kind of interesting that we worked at the same library when we were kids.”

It was while she was earning her master's degree in English from the University of Virginia that Joshi began to really consider working in a library as her true calling. Her interest in rare books and special collections, an interest she said stemmed back to her childhood and all of her father's books, led her to spend some time working at the New York Public Library in Manhattan.

“I was doing field work,” she said. “While I was getting my degree (bachelor's) from the University of Washington in Seattle, I was working in the rare book section. That was a lot of fun. That library is one of the greatest research resources in the world. At that time, they didn't have enough people to catalogue everything, so while I was working, they said this is our backlog and this is the backlog to our backlog. It was a great experience to work at one the premiere libraries in the world.”

It was through her husband, an independent scholar, that Joshi was brought to the east coast and ultimately Moravia

“There are a lot of places he has to be to do research - places like New York City,” Joshi explained, “but we knew we didn't want to live in the city. We wanted to be close to a place with great research facilities like Cornell, but to still be able to live in the country and be close to all of these resources.”

Joshi said that with these criteria in mind, Moravia just felt like the perfect fit.

“We are really close to Ithaca and Syracuse and just four hours from New York,” she said. “But we have that wonderful small town feel here in the village. I always tell people I feel like I stepped into a storybook living here. It is a wonderful community and a great place to live.”

Since moving to the area a year ago and assuming her role as director of the library, Joshi said that she has been struck by the rich history of the area, a history that isn't always readily apparent on the west coast.

“Growing up, I really didn't make the associations,” Joshi said. #&I knew the Gettysburg Address, but I didn't think of it as a real place and battlefield or how important it was to the Civil War. But when you live here, the history of the area is so much a part of the fabric and has had such an influence on shaping the area it makes it really come alive.“

This is a history that is very much alive today and tied in closely with the library, which has a rich collection of texts, letters and correspondence dating back to the 1800s.

“We have the collection of Dr. Cyrus Powers,” Joshi said. “He was a world traveler and man of letters. At the time, his collection was considered the best in New York state, and he donated it to the library.”

One of the most interesting is a three-volume biography on George Washington. “I think it was the first ever,” Joshi said. “At the time the most notable thing about him was that he was a general. We have a lot of nice leather bound gilded editions, but we also find that we have letters that have been handed down going back to the Revolutionary War. We really hope some day to be able to put all of this on display for everyone to see.”

The library itself physically expanded three years ago, receiving an award from the New York State Historical Preservation League for the fine job of incorporating the original structure with the addition that more than doubled the space of the original building.

Since her arrival, Joshi has been hard at work filling and making the most use of that space.

“We get a lot of support from the community,” she said. “But we still have a limited budget, and we have to be creative to make things sometimes. We didn't have a periodical area. When I was shopping in Ithaca, I saw some pieces I thought would make great tables for newspapers and magazines. You have to keep these kinds of things in mind, even on your day off. (You have to) keep your eyes open to fulfill a need.”

Joshi has also been hard at work to reach out to teenagers.

“That is the age when a lot of kids start to stray away from the library,” Joshi said. “It is a time when they don't want to feel like someone is always looking over their shoulder and looking at what they are reading.” So a small area has been established for teens featuring books geared toward them. Joshi hopes that by creating this space, teens will feel more comfortable.

Joshi has also been adding on things like a suggestion box for book requests and feedback and has even planned a trip to Gettysburg in October sponsored by the library.

“There is a lot of great history in this area,” Joshi said, “and it is great to be able to share that and encourage people to support their local library.”