Sayville Library Featured in Two Magazines

The Board recently held its monthly meeting and talks centered on upcoming events and successful programs.

After a successful , the library received a thank you note from one of the winning classes after their pizza party. Sayville Library was also recently featured in the March/April edition of American Libraries, as well as the March edition of American Libraries, where the children’s room, teen area and adult sections were all highlighted for their sustainable and unique design qualities.

Library director Alice Lepore gave her report on recent library happenings. With the amount of state aid on the decline, about 1.1 percent, the library has invited New York State Senator Lee Zeldin in for a visit.

Author Carol Prizant will be at coming to the library on May 14 at 12:30 p.m. as part of the program. On that same day, the Common Ground will be holding a Scavenger Hunt at 10 a.m. and the library will have a table there.

The library has purchased five E-readers. They will be available for a 14-day loan, and can be renewed twice. The staff is currently in the process of downloading the bestsellers on the readers and awaiting the arrival of chargers and hard cases. They should be available for loan in May, and patrons will have to sign a waiver making them responsible for any damage before they can check the readers out, Lepore said.

The library has recently purchased shades for some of the areas on the south side of the building. The cost of purchase and installing the shades approved by the board was $588. Lepore has also met with different banks to find out more about interest rates and featured offered. She has met with Chase, Capital One and SCNB and presented her findings to the board but a decision has not been made.  The library is also looking to purchase a used in-house copier for $1,000.

According to Lepore, the process of implementing the self-service checkout system is going a little slower than anticipated. Sayville is buying equipment from another library and also borrowing carts, for a savings of almost $8,000. The RFID systems will likely be done by the fall, depending on how long it takes to tag all the books. As soon as the equipment arrives, the tagging process will begin and the library is purchasing three laptops for use in the project which will be turned over to the teen center after completion of the tagging.

March circulation numbers were up, which could be attributed to the Student Art Month currently on display at the library, Lepore said. There were 160 new adult library cards issued in March as well.