Cornell is sponsoring the Sunday hours Oct. 19 at Tompkins County Public Library, and scholar-athletes and administrators from the East Hill campus will be on hand to read to children and assist library patrons.

The library, founded by Ezra Cornell in 1864, has been open Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. since Sept. 7, thanks to contributions from more than a dozen local businesses, organizations and individuals. The Sunday afternoon hours continue through Dec. 14, according to Janet Steiner, director of the public library.

In addition to Cornell students and staff, university trustee Ezra Cornell, the great-great-great grandson of the man who founded the university and the community's first public library, will be a volunteer this Sunday.

David I. Stewart, community relations director at Cornell University, said university sponsorship of the Sunday hours "is a natural, because we share the legacy of the same founder."