Skelos keeps library open on Sundays

Senator Dean Skelos managed to keep the Rockville Centre Public Library open on Sundays this winter by securing $45,000 in state funding.

When the library’s budget was announced in April, the constraints of the state’s tax cap meant that the library had to make cuts. To make sure it came in under the limit, the library was going to close its doors on Sundays.

“Everybody is relieved,” said library Director Maureen Chiofalo. “Nobody wanted to close on Sundays, but we just couldn’t see our way out of it.”

Normally, the library is closed on Sundays in the summer, from Father’s Day to the Sunday after Labor Day. But due to the budget cuts, it would have been closed every Sunday.

The library’s Board of Directors is still working on the details, Chiofalo said, but it is expected that the library will be open on Sundays from mid-October to late May. It still will not be able to be open for all the Sundays it would like.

“Right now, we anticipate that it will be five extra Sundays that we’ll be closed,” Chiofalo said. “But we’ll still be open 32 Sundays.”

It would have cost $55,000 for the library to be open every Sunday. But because the budget is so bare-bones, Chiofalo said, the $45,000 made a huge difference.

“The Rockville Centre Public Library is an important part of the local community and continues to be an excellent learning resource for people of every age,” said Scot Reif, spokesman for Skelos. “Senator Skelos is pleased to have secured the funds necessary for the library to open its doors to the public on Sundays.”

But the Board of Trustees is still looking at cost-saving measures for the library and planning for the future. The aid from Skelos was a one-time measure. The library could be facing Sunday closures again in the next fiscal year.

“This is a one-time gift, and we appreciate it very much, but we have to plan for the coming years,” Chiofalo said. “As long as there’s a two percent tax levy limit, we’re going to be under the gun.”