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Library set to offer new services

STOCK PHOTO Beginning August 1, the Library will begin functioning as a Passport Acceptance Agency.
STOCK PHOTO
Beginning August 1, the Library will begin functioning as a Passport Acceptance Agency.

The Shelter Island Library is doing a lot of new and exciting things that will spice up your life (or make it a lot easier)!

Beginning August 1, the Library will begin functioning as a Passport Acceptance Agency, or a location that assists people applying for passports on behalf of the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. Staff members have been trained to assist passport applicants, accept passports, package them and send them off to the government agencies that process them. They’ll also be taking passport pictures, a seemingly simple service that had previously necessitated traveling as far as Riverhead. Each passport application takes about 15 to 20 minutes to fill out, and staff members will be answering questions and offering assistance on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m.

Other new services include a Spanish class, which is well-attended, and an Unconventional Items collection, which allows people to check out badminton sets, gardening tools, recreational sprinkler heads and other items that are fun for the family.

“Say you have your grandkids coming up for the weekend and they want to run through the sprinkler, but you don’t want to go out and buy one, or you have guests and you want to play bocce ball. If you have a library card, you can come rent one,” said Terry Lucas, the director of the library.

On July 23 at 6 p.m. the library will be hosting a “Community Conversation,” where community members are invited to be part of the strategic planning process that aims to decide how the library can best serve the community in the future.

“Libraries are changing and communities are changing,” said Ms. Lucas. “We want to make sure they change in a way that’s complementary. Anyone interested in the future of the library should come.