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The Westhampton Free Library Board of Trustees: Michael Lennon
WESTHAMPTON BEACH—The Westhampton Free Library will open its new $7.8 million facility next month, nearly 22 months after the 100-year-old library closed its doors at 7 Library Avenue to make way for the new building, officials announced on Tuesday.
The new library will open on Saturday, June 26, at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The trailer at 28 Library Avenue that has temporarily housed the library during the construction of the new facility will close on Sunday, June 13, to allow time to move books and other content to the new 14,250-square-foot building.
The Westhampton Free Library’s Board of Trustees attended a brief gathering Tuesday, during which Michael Lennon, the board’s president, announced the grand opening. Members said they are pleased with the finished product and excited to see the new building open.
“We followed the design of what everybody wanted to see,” said Esther Glazer, another library trustee.
Mr. Lennon thanked the community for their patience and support.
“On behalf of the board, I want to thank the community for using the library during this project and continually asking, ‘When will you be open?’” he said while reading from a prepared statement. “We are excited for it to open as well.”
During the two-week period in which the library will be closed, cardholders can access their accounts online, use electronic resources that the library offers, or use other area libraries, according to Matthew Bollerman, the library director. Materials can be returned in the book drop at the new building during the time that the library will be closed.
The hours of operation at the new library will stay the same, Mr. Bollerman said. The Westhampton Free Library is open from 9 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
The new two-story building will likely achieve gold standard Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, and the library board expects a formal announcement of that achievement this fall. Mr. Lennon said. The Library Avenue building has to meet certain regulations for light fixtures, faucets, paint and carbon dioxide levels to achieve LEED certification.
The new library features a 15-kilowatt solar panel system on its roof and will have other energy efficient designs, such as a geothermal heating system, to make the building sustainable. The construction company, Sandpebble Builders in Southampton, also installed a shower in the bathroom of the staff break room so employees can shower if they ride their bikes to work.
The community approved a bond for the building in October 2007. The original Westhampton Free Library closed on September 6, 2008, and was demolished the following month.
The library was supposed to relocate to the temporary, 5,040-square-foot modular trailer across the street that same September, but that move was delayed for four weeks after officials found petroleum contamination at 28 Library Avenue, where the temporary trailer now sits. Construction on the new library began in November 2008.
The Westhampton Free Library services residents of Westhampton, Westhampton Beach, Quiogue, Remsenburg, Speonk, East Quogue, Eastport, East Moriches and Manorville.
