GN Library Board to present $10M plan

Dan Glaun

The Great Neck Library Board of Trustees plans to hold a public meeting in late June to present a proposal for the renovation of the library’s Main Branch, ahead of an estimated $10 million referendum that is expected to be put to the ballot this fall.

The meeting will be held after the library’s building advisory committee, which is composed of trustees, staff members and residents, recommends a plan designed in concert with the architectural firm Kaeyer, Garment and Davidson at the board’s June 25 meeting. The plan, a more modest proposal than the $20.8 million expansion of the Main Branch, which was defeated by a landslide in an October 2011 referendum, is expected to budget about $5 million for infrastructure repairs and improvements and at most another $5 million for other enhancements.

“The process is moving along quite nicely,” said board President Marietta Di Camillo.

The timing of the meeting is tentative, depending on Kaeyer, Garment and Davidson’s availability.

The board will hold several public meetings to discuss the plan, said Di Camillo, adding that while major changes to the design would be unlikely public input could inspire some modifications to the design ahead of the referendum.

“As we fine tune the plans, we’ll also fine tune the money,” Di Camillo said.

Library Trustee Varda Solomon pushed back on the planned vote in the fall and the lack of public meetings prior to the completion of the building committee’s work, arguing that it would be a mistake to rush the process. 

“I think it would be very short sighted to schedule a date before we are ready,” Solomon said.

But Di Camillo said the board would review the plans in June and that it would be a great mistake to “wait and wait and wait,” in the face of needed repairs.

“It has to be done,” Di Camillo said. “The longer that we delay on this, the more that building costs us.”

Trustee Janet Esagoff also expressed concerns that the public at large was not familiar enough with the plan, and that a lack of public engagement could lead to a repeat of 2011’s failed referendum.

“It’s somewhat deja vu to me,” Esagoff said.

Di Camillo said the library would make greater efforts to make residents aware of the plan, and Trustee Michael Fuller suggested that the public meetings could be video-recorded and broadcast.

The failed 2011 expansion plan would have added 8,600 square feet to the Main Branch’s footprint and added accessibility for disabled patrons, but would have forced a two-year branch closure. 

Board members have said the new proposal is designed to avoid an extended closure

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