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Community Corner

Bayport-Blue Point Library Names New Director

Hampton Bays library director Michael Firestone will replace the retiring John D. O'Hare.

The new director of the may be a familiar face to some. Michael Firestone will be replacing , the current director who is retiring after 17-years at the library.

Firestone, 37, will be taking the director's position after serving in a similar capacity at the Hampton Bays Public Library. "I'm very excited about the opportunity," he said.

While the Manorville resident has worked in the east end of Long Island for the past several years, he is quite familiar with Bayport-Blue Point. Firestone worked at the library he will now run upon completing school and his wife is a Bayport native and still has some family residing in the hamlet.

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"From my time working [at Bayport-Blue Point Library] I thought it was a great community," he said. "They're very supportive of the library.  It's a beautiful community and I look forward to going back there."

He said public libraries are run very well in Suffolk County, and Bayport-Blue Point is no exception. O'Hare noted that he is pleased that he is leaving the library in capable hands. "I think he's an ideal fit for the library, and he's really one of the great library directors in the county.  We're really fortunate to have him," he said.

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The soon-to-be retired director cited his replacement's in-depth experience, managerial as well as business background and connections to the community as some of the primary reasons for his selection.

Firestone is eager to step into his new position, but said, "It's too early to say what kind of changes I'm going to make. I'm going to feed off the public for what they're looking for a library to bring to them. I have some core ideas that we've done at Hampton Bays that work serving the public.  I think it's important to use a grassroots [approach]."

Firestone's priorities for the library include making sure people are enthusiastic about the children's program and starting early literacy, as well as implementing programs for young adults. He also wants to make sure there are programs and services for adults and seniors. "You want to make sure it's a very inclusive environment for everyone in the community to enjoy," he said. "I definitely want to expand, and make sure the ball continues to roll in a positive direction."

While acknowledging that the public will decide, by usage of the library, which programs need to be expanded, he mentioned that in Hampton Bays a teen room was added about five years ago. "As long as the library is well used it will continue to grow the services," Firestone said, "Clearly, you get to a tipping point where you can only do so much in the physical walls, but then you go outside the library to the community for where else you can do some of the programs."

He mentioned that in Hampton Bays they have a No Child Left Inside program where once a month they take a program outdoors to places like the Holtsville Ecology Site or the Quogue Wildlife Refuge. "Just partnering with different community organizations will help alleviate some of the pressures inside the building," said Firestone.

The new director is very optimistic about serving the Bayport Blue-Point community. "I think it's a very similar community to where I work now, and I think it's going to be a pretty seamless transition," he said.

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