ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University President Jeffrey S. Lehman's Inauguration Day Oct. 16 in Ithaca will begin with a trip to the Tompkins County Public Library. The visit by Cornell's 11th president to the library in the heart of the city will highlight the historical and continuing connection between the university and the greater Ithaca community.

Cornell University founder Ezra Cornell, in what was the first of his many philanthropic enterprises, incorporated Ithaca's first free public library in 1864. Originally called the Cornell Library, the spacious atheneum was located on the corner of Seneca and Tioga streets and opened its doors to the public Dec. 20, 1866. The library served as the site of the university's first Inauguration Day, for President Andrew Dickson White, in a ceremony that also marked the formal dedication of the university on Oct. 7, 1868.

Janet Steiner, executive director of the Tompkins County Public Library, will lead a private tour of the library on Oct. 16, for Lehman, his wife, Kathy Okun, and special guests from Cornell and the Ithaca community. The tour's highlight will be the unveiling of a library exhibit commemorating the historic relationship between Cornell and the Ithaca community. The exhibit is co-sponsored by Cornell University Library and the Tompkins County Public Library.

At 8:15 a.m., the Ithaca-area community leaders taking part in the event will assemble in the library's Borg Warner Room for comments by Lehman and a conversation with the president.

Among the 30 community leaders in attendance will be: New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton; Ithaca Mayor Alan Cohen; Tim Joseph, chair of the Tompkins County Board of Representatives; Ithaca Police Chief Victor Loo; Marcia Fort, director of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center; Marge Dill, director of the Tompkins County Human Services Coalition; Anthony DeLuca, commissioner of Tompkins County Mental Health Services; and Jean McPheeters, president of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce.

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