By Scott Brinton
The entire library board and numerous employees were on hand Wednesday to hear the results and cheered ecstatically as they were made public.
The count was close, with 587 ballots cast for the new library, 517 against -- a 53-to-47 percent margin.
Walter Mintz, library board president, said, "The library vote was an affirmation of the worth that Merrick places on education, enlightenment and enrichment. It was a celebration of our values and priorities as a community."
On Thursday, many at the library said they were pleased Merrick would receive the new facility, which will almost double the size of the current 14,000-square-foot building.
Right now, the Merrick Library is too small and limited in services that it can offer patrons, so most people stop off, grab the books and materials they need, and leave, said Sonya Minkoff of Merrick, acting library director. She envisions the new library as a community center where residents can become immersed in the many activities there. "It's not going to be a hit-and-run library," she said of the new building.
Maureen Garvey of Merrick, director of the library's Technical Processing Department, grew up in the community and watched as the current library was built in 1962. "It was cool when this place opened," she said of the current building. The new library, she said, "is going to very cool and great" as well.
Garvey likes that phone jacks will be installed at desks throughout the library so that patrons can bring their own laptops and hook up to the Internet from most anywhere.
She's also happy that the new library will include an entire wing for young adults. Teenagers now have no place to call their own, except a handful of shelves near the reference desk containing mostly test review books.
Bonnie Markel of Merrick, the library's director of children's services, is pleased that the children's room will be expanded significantly and that it will be placed on an upper floor where natural night can stream in. The old children's room sits in the basement, with a handful of window slits covered by wire mesh.
Markel currently cannot run an activity without consuming all available space in the children's room. Last Thursday afternoon, youngsters crafted green-and-white, paper-plate masks and sat at every available table, spilling into the meeting room next door. The new library includes an activity room just for kids.
Markel said the new library "is going to be a big boost for the community. Property values will go up. It's important for the community to have a library they're proud of."
She added, "I was very impressed so many people took an interest" in the library vote. On any year, around 200 residents vote in the library election. This year, more than 1,100 turned out.
Deborah Jay's three young children frequent the Merrick Public Library. "They participate in everything here," she said. On Thursday, two of Jay's children attended two separate story hours, one in the morning, one in the afternoon.
Jay, from Merrick, who supported the new library, said she had concerns about the proposal. She worried that moving the children's room to an upper floor might disturb adult patrons. The children, as all youngsters, can get loud during an activity.
Architect Todd Harvey, who designed the new library, assured Jay and other parents that the children's room would be soundproof.
Passing the new library was indeed an uphill vote. Several residents said at community meetings that the $84 to $85 a year tax hike that will come with the library is too much to bear, particularly for older adults. Others said they like the library as is and do not want a new one.
An ad hoc committee formed to fight the new library, passing out hundreds of fliers throughout the community, including at the Merrick Kids Fest only days before the Wednesday referendum.
Library officials countered with numerous community meetings with PTAs, civic associations and organizations like the Cure of Ars Mother's Group. They also mailed a four-page pamphlet to every Merrick home.
MeMe Wanderman, library-trustee elect and a Hofstra University librarian, said of the new building: "We fought hard for it. It's something we really, really need in this community," adding, "It's going to be wonderful."
Louis Kruh of Merrick, the Central High School District president, spoke in favor of the new library at community meetings. Last Thursday, he said, "I was glad to see it passed. I can't say I'm happy about the tax increase. But it would have been a tremendous blow had it gone down."
Minkoff, the library director, believes many residents didn't see the current library's shortcomings because staff, most of whom live in Merrick, worked to overcome them. "We compensated for the poor physical plant by providing extraordinary service," she said.
That service, Minkoff says, will continue in the new library.
The library plan must now receive approval at the state level, which is expected to take a year. After that, construction likely will require a year and a half. During that time, library services will be provided in a trailer.
