Library to receive backup generator

In the days after Hurricane Sandy, the Baldwin Public Library became a place where people could start getting their lives back in order. “The library provided a welcomed haven and a useful community hub,” said its director at the time, Catherine Overton, now the director of the Rockville Centre Public Library. “We opened the Community Room and added tables, chairs and power strips, and offered tea, coffee and cookies to the people.”

Rena Rosenthal, a Baldwin librarian, recalled seeing people there she had never seen before. “We had power, whereas a lot of people didn’t,” Rosenthal said. “It was also a place for people to share their experiences. A lot of people talked to each other.”

But the library was without power for four days. “It was a difficult time,” Overton recalled. “Superstorm Sandy affected all and devastated many in our community, including staff, a number of whom lived in Baldwin.”

In the event of future storms, the library may be up and running much more quickly. On July 31, the board of trustees unanimously ap-proved a state-funded project that will bring a backup generator to the Grand Avenue facility, which will allow it to operate as a community assistance center. The Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery funds the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, formed after Sandy to help the state meet the needs of flood-prone communities. The program, in turn, has a Baldwin Planning Committee, which proposed the library project in a March 2014 report. “It’s very important that we have a site that will not be blacked out in the event of a power outage,” said Erik Mahler, co-chairman of the Baldwin committee and president of the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.

The planning phase of the project is under way, and construction is expected to start next summer, according to state officials. “The $1 million emergency backup natural gas generator project funded by the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery will enable the library to operate as a Community Assistance Center immediately after a storm event,” a spokesman for GOSR wrote in an email, “allowing residents to charge electronic devices, obtain information and contact friends and family.”

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, pushed for the project. “Having this generator paid by a state grant is a unique opportunity — it is the only library to receive it in the area — to ensure that a community facility will have power even in the worst of storms,” Kaminsky wrote in an email. “The Baldwin Library has always been central to this community, but now it will really be so in a literal sense, since residents will be able to take refuge there even under the worst of circumstances. This is an important investment for Baldwin.”

Elizabeth Olesh, the library’s director, called the project a win for the hamlet. “This isn’t about the library per se. This is about the community,” Olesh said. “It’s about being here for the community.”

The Community Reconstruction Program has searched for sites on higher ground that could serve as community centers after a natural disaster or blackout. “They looked at other libraries, but we’re the only one so far that’s progressed to this point and is actually going to get a generator,” Olesh said. “It’s really great, because if another disaster should occur, we should be able to provide services to people.”

The project’s goal is to provide power to the entire building, but if the cost exceeds $1 million, the design may be changed to leave parts of the facility without power.