Meet Island Park's newest Library trustee: John Joseph Byrne

John Joseph Byrne, known as JJ, is a lifelong resident of Island Park, and now a newly installed Island Park Library Trustee.

Byrne was installed at the July 17 Board of Trustees meeting. The 23year-old graduated from St. John’s University in 2022 with a major in legal studies and philosophy.

He had planned to attend law school after college and did attend classes before deciding the career was not for him. He quickly pivoted to a job as an aide to U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito.

Prior to that, he worked for Island Park as a beach manager and mayor’s assistant, and still works for the village on a part-time basis.

He is deeply committed to his parish, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, in ministries too numerous to mention, according to Byrne. He is a lector and works to organize the church’s biggest fundraising event.

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic curtailed Mass attendance, he has been working for the parish to post recorded masses online.

Byrne says he loves Island Park and has great pride in his community. He views the library as a cornerstone of that community. He grew up going to the library, learning to read there, and studying there on many occasions.

When he heard that longtime trustee Elen Levitt was retiring, he decided the time was right for him to run to fill the position she was vacating.

Byrne spoke of his admiration for Levitt, who was also a school board trustee. He won the position with 536 votes and was officially sworn in July 17.

Byrne attributes his win to his name recognition in the community, his responsiveness to neighbors’ needs, and the trust he’s fostered in his years of work in the village and in D’Esposito’s office.

“On behalf of the Island Park Library board, I’d like to welcome J.J. aboard as a new trustee,” said newly installed Island Park Library board president Joe Pontecorvo.

“He will be an asset to the library and the community, and I am looking forward to doing great things together.”

As a trustee, Byrne would like to ensure the library is responding to the needs of the community. With fiscal responsibility top of mind, a high priority is maintaining current library programs.

However, he feels that the library can reach more patrons by adding Spanish-speaking programs and ESL to its offerings.

He would like the library to work in conjunction with the village and various service organizations, such as Kiwanis, the American Legion, and Little League to host programs that are beneficial to the community.

In fact, he has already worked with fellow trustees and American Legion Post 1029 to collect donations of POW flags, which are to be flown at the library daily.

Byrne sees the potential for the library to be a hub for public safety programs such as Narcan training, CPR training, and fire safety programs in cooperation with the fire department.

For Byrne, the trustee position is a way for him to continue his life of service to the Island Park community.