Sayville Library to launch Live-brary.com

The Sayville Library Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting earlier this week and announced the launch of Live-brary.com.

On Sept. 21, Sayville Library will be opening a digital branch in cooperation with neighboring Suffolk Country libraries called Live-brary, which is a virtual library of free online resources including music, videos, audio books, e-book downloads, homework help, career guidance, college prep and more.

"We already have all the products, but we have used the cooperative power of the libraries for this site," said Alice Lepore, director of the Sayville Library. "There is a link from our [Sayville library] site right now and you must have a valid library card to access it."

On Sept. 21 from 4 to 7 p.m., the library staff will have three laptops set up to help patrons familiarize themselves with the site.

Also at the meeting, the board approved budgets, and discussed cash activity and expenditures for July and August. Included in that discussion was the new laptops purchased for the teen center. According to Lepore, the laptops take a lot of abuse in that area of the library.

The library is going to be installing a heat sensor in the front of the lobby to count the number of people who come in and out of the building by the hour, monitoring the library's busy times more accurately.

Funds were also spent to have the pavers located in the front of the library pressured cleaned in June. Plans are underway to repaint some areas of the building, using existing paints, where there are noticeable marks, such as in the art gallery, where artwork is being put up and taken down frequently, as well as the media rooms.

The library is currently featuring two works by local artist John Healy. One is a carousel horse that can be seen right behind the front desk and the other is a glass mosaic piece featuring sunflowers in the second floor adult section lobby. Lepore said she discovered the artist on a trip out East and hopes to partner with him for future exhibits in the library.

In other news, the board will be submitting applications and photography in hopes of being featured in the Library Journal and American Libraries for their architectural issue. The board said that the library's design, along with the solar panels and other green technologies, makes Sayville Library an ideal candidate.

Some other items on the agenda included:

• Two bikes, which were not locked, were stolen from the bike rack recently. The front desk provides locks for both bikes and skateboards.
• The summer reading program was a great success, with 674 children registered, 96 more than last year.
• The board is interested in adding more art-based trips to the calendar. However, the economy is still a problem, so taking the train for these excursions would be more cost-effective and possibly encourage greater participation.
• The Friends of Sayville Library are putting together a cookbook – consisting of nearly 200 recipes – that will be for sale around the Christmas season.

The next library board meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.