By Marley Seaman
About 315 households in the area, officially the North Malverne Library District, are currently served by the Malverne Library on St. Thomas Place. The library was awarded after the last election, which was held in 2003. This time, the Town of Hempstead will award a four-year contract to the Malverne Library if the voters say yes. If they do not, the town will draw up a contract with the West Hempstead Library.
"As the contract with Malverne Public Library, the current host library, will expire on December 31, 2006, New York State law requires that a special election be called to approve a new contract with a host library, including an associated budget," said town Supervisor Kate Murray in a statement. The new contract would run through 2010.
The polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Lynbrook voters will be able to vote at Howard T. Herber Middle School on Ocean Avenue, while Malverne voters will go to Maurice W. Downing Elementary School on Lindner Place.
Town of Hempstead Councilman James Darcy said that areas like north Malverne and north Lynbrook did not receive library services before 2003, when a new state law allowed for the creation of library districts.
"The library districts then look to contract with an existing library for services, and the [vote] is on the renewal of the contract that had been entered into" in 2003, said Darcy. "Last time, it passed by a very large margin. I haven't heard any dissatisfaction voiced by any people."
Even so, librarian Cathy Wellikoff said that the Malverne Library's leadership has sent out repeated mailings to the public to remind them of the date, and is treating the referendum seriously.
"We hope they choose us," she said. "We're known for being a very friendly library. We¹re smaller than some other libraries, but we make up for that with our customer service."
