Wantagh, Seaford libraries among those to receive town CARES funding

On Feb. 10, Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin, appearing with local library directors, announced that the town had approved more than $340,000 in grants to support several public libraries in the township.Wantagh’s and Seaford’s public libraries were among the beneficiaries of the town grants.

The funds will come from the federal CARES Act, which Congress passed and former President Trump signed into law last March.

Each library will receive more than $20,000 to help pay for unbudgeted expenses incurred during the pandemic. Clavin said that the funding would also allow the facilities to continue to provide essential programs and services to their communities.

“They might have lost some sort of benefit they’d given the community,” he explained. “No one in our town was spared from the impacts of this pandemic and the financial toll it has taken, [and] we are proud to be able to provide this funding to our neighborhood libraries so they can continue serving the residents of Hempstead Town.”

Most libraries have continued to offer a full complement of services, with Covid-19 safety measures in place, including high-grade Plexiglas shields for the circulation and reference desks, personal protective equipment for staff, daily sanitizing procedures, UV-lighting to disinfect books and printed materials, and the reconfiguration of library spaces to maintain social distancing.

“Our children, schools, seniors and community groups depend on our libraries, as they play an important role in our communities,” said Town Councilman Christopher Carini, who fondly recalled leading Seaford Civic Association meetings at the Seaford Public Library. “We all want to see our libraries continue to provide their programs. This will help them achieve that.”

Clavin’s announcement took place outside the Levittown Public Library. Levittown Library Trustee Steve Dalton commended town officials for their support. “There are two broad purposes for this money,” he said. “It’s one, to make in-person library use safer for our patrons and our staff, and two, to expand digital and virtual access to library materials.”

Digital and virtual access includes lending hot spot devices and installing Wi-Fi routers and boosters so patrons can access the libraries’ Wi-Fi during off hours.

Town Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby noted that the libraries could also use the funds to develop virtual literacy programs, to teach children how to use computer programs, like Zoom, and help them adjust to remote learning.

Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito described the facilities as “a central location for meetings” that bring community members together. “No one could have anticipated the impact that Covid-19 would have on libraries and so many other aspects of our daily lives,” D’Esposito said, “and these relief funds will go a long way to helping them get back on their feet.”