Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Merrick Library always makes an effort to keep up with a constantly changing modern world, but deep in its archives lies a rich history told through century-old relics and documents.
While America celebrates its 250th year as a free country, local history on Long Island encompasses that period and its colonial era, forming an epic story that extends back centuries more.
The library is the central to Merrick’s historical preservation efforts, taking in the entire collection of the Historical Society of the Merricks and growing the collection further since.
“We have garments, we have helmets, we have arrowheads here, it's just incredible what we have in here,” said Christina Bonfiglio-Scali, the library’s head of community engagement. “We're trying to process everything, get them into archival safe boxes… We're going to continue with digitization, which is centuries of stuff right here.”
The preservation of local history helps residents find a sense of identity and explore the lives of their predecessors.
“The purpose for this archive is to make human connections to the past,” she said. “When people know the history of their town, there’s a sense of pride with it. It makes an emotional connection… we’re all human, it doesn’t matter when or where we existed.”
To share the Merrick’s history with the public, the library is finding ways to exhibit their collection digitally. On their social media accounts, the “Now and Then” series compares old photography with the current appearance of Merrick’s buildings.
For those who wish to look at the entire collection, 4781 items have been scanned to NYHeritage.org as well as recordings of oral histories from past residents.
