Rockville Centre Public Library to close for renovations

The Rockville Centre Public Library will be closed for what officials said would be a week or two at the end of August while it undergoes renovations of its ceilings and lighting.

The work will include removing the skylight in the main reading room and replacing it with a standard ceiling, and replacing the lighting and ceiling tiles in the public areas throughout the building.

According to library Director Maureen Chiofalo, the renovations have been in the works for a couple of years. “The skylight is over 20 years old, probably close to 30, and it’s beginning to deteriorate,” she said. “We were going to change the lighting there anyway, and we’ve been advised the life of the skylight is done.”

In order to get the project under way, Chiofalo explained, she had to make sure the library had enough funding, contact an architect to draw up plans and get approvals from the state Education Department. Four contractors bid on the project, and the Hi-Lume Corporation, whose bid came in at $715,600, was chosen by the library Board of Directors.

Chiofalo said she sees the renovation as a way for the library to become more energy-efficient. The lights will be standardized and will have occupancy sensors to dim when no one is in a room, and the ceiling tiles will offer better insulation. “We see it as a going-green situation,” she said.

Chiofalo is applying for a state construction grant, which will be sent to Albany in October, although the library will not have an answer until 2012. “We have the funding now,” she said, “but if we can get the grant as well, that would be great.”

Chiofalo added that the library would have to close as a matter of safety, although she noted that employees would continue to work throughout the closure. “We’re going to ask neighboring libraries to extend courtesies to our community, but we’ll have to cancel programming for that time period,” she said.

Comments about this story? AAxelson@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.