East Hampton Library Expansion Saga Continues
RSSBy Rocco Staino
A seven year battle over whether to build an additional room at the East Hampton Library in New York has moved to the State Supreme Court. This follows a recent decision by the village's zoning board to reject expanding the library by about 6,000 square feet to create a children's room--a move that many are calling exclusionary since a new facility would attract kids from the less affluent areas of East Hampton Town. "A few politically influential people in the village want the library to serve only village residents," the library said in a statement. "That's what they mean by village preservation. They believe the people from outside the village should be excluded from the library." The zoning board says it rejected the bid because it would increase traffic at a busy intersection and take away from the town's greenery. Instead, it suggested building a satellite library in the heavily Hispanic hamlet of Springs to reduce the need for residents to travel into the village. "This children's wing expansion is due to the increasing Hispanic population who reside in the part of East Hampton known as the Springs," an East Hampton resident told School Library. "Some residents feel that since that is the main reason for the addition that a new library should be built in Springs to accommodate these children's needs." The board's decision came despite a recent public referendum on the library's expansion, which was organized by the library board. On August 14, registered voters in the local school districts served by the library voted 657 to 135 in favor of the addition, which would provide 10,000 more books and additional materials and would be privately funded, without any cost to taxpayers. "The members of the East Hampton Library District stood up and let their voices be heard," said Library Director Dennis Fabiszak after the vote. "With a total approval of 83 percent, the residents have made it crystal clear that they want the library expansion to move forward." The results of the public vote came hours before a host of literati including Robert Caro, Ken Auletta, and Jay McInerney gathered at the library for its annual Authors' Night, chaired by actor Alec Baldwin. Guests later attended dinners for the authors at the homes of community members, such as John Randolph Hearst, Jr. and Jane Friedman, the former CEO of HarperCollins. Over the years, the village zoning board has asked the library for numerous changes to its expansion plans, including reducing the size of the building by about 4,000 square feet to 6,800 square feet. The zoning board also rejects the library's claim that it's exempt from review because it's an educational institution. The library board has said this is "village politics at its worst," with local larger scale church and museums projects not subject to the same scrutiny. East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach, Jr. fully supports the zoning board, telling the East Hampton Star that the library's referendum was "just a cosmetic exercise, and I'm not surprised at the outcome." The extension was designed by noted architect Robert A.M. Stern, and the $4 million price tag was entirely raised through private donations. Among the libraries on the east end of Long Island, the East Hampton Library's children's collection ranks last in terms of the number of books available per child. In an email to the East Hampton Star, Doreen Niggles, president of the library's board, said "We are confident that the rule of law will prevail and the library will be given the right to build the new children's wing by the courts." perhaps they should build a "private Library" instead of running the chance that second class children, may impose on the expansion with the desire to learn. Wow someone did not do their homework before writing this article! If
you look at the factual information you will find that there are factors
that prevent this type of renovation from being desirable in this area.
It is my understanding that the "hate" campaign of children from
surrounding districts as being undesirable to the village people is an
old fashioned type of smear campaign and is untrue.
I have read SLJ for over 30 years and am surprised at this poor
journalism!
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Author's Night at the Library (from left) Jay McInerney, Candace Bushnell, and Alec Baldwin
The library serves the tony East Hampton Village--where Ronald Perelman, Jerry Seinfeld, and Steven Spielberg all have homes--as well as the more middle class hamlets of Springs, Northwest and Wainscott.
Reader Comments (2)
Posted by becky on August 26, 2010 04:54:36AM
Posted by Lynn on August 26, 2010 05:57:08PM
