Shelter Island Library groundbreaking celebrated: Expansion anticipated to be complete in 2026

The dream started in 2008 with Friends of the Library recognizing the growing needs of users of all ages, but it took until 2022 to gain traction.

Director Terry Lucas began exploring how many activities by so many different age groups were taking place in the relatively tiny building.

It has certainly not been a straight line from 2008 to Saturday’s groundbreaking on the $9.5 million expansion project.

Plagued with delays in getting permits, the project aimed to get underway last September kept getting put off, with the final blow coming when the Town changed its code to require a site plan review on a nonprofit entity. Had the library already had a building permit when the code change occurred, the project could have gotten underway earlier. But the New York State Dormitory Authority handling financing couldn’t sign off on it until all permits were in place.

Looking ahead, Ms. Lucas predicted a 2026 completion of the project that will expand the space by 4,500 square feet. Work has started on clearing the back site where much of the new expansion is to take place.

More than 100 people were on hand May 3 at the front portico of the library hearing Ms. Lucas praise those who kept the early dream alive. She singled out former Library Board of Trustees president, now Vice President Jo-Ann Robotti for keeping the vision alive. She thanked current Board of Trustees President, Henry Fayne for his leadership, and Trustee Don Dunning, who has not only contributed his intellect but his muscles in moving items from the library to Shelter Island School where they could be used in the school’s library.

Mr. Fayne sounded the refrain about how much libraries have “changed dramatically” in their functions through the years. Its programs foster open constructive dialogue, embracing all points of view. The expansion design is meant to be as flexible as possible, he said.

Today’s library is “a vibrant place,” Ms. Lucas said.

Picking up on the theme, Suffolk County Legislator Catherine Stark’s (R-Riverhead) aide, Dean Gandley said it’s not just a place for borrowing books. State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) noted he was a member and president of the Cutchogue New Suffolk Library on the North Fork.

Town Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, congratulating Ms. Lucas and the Trustees and Friends of the Library for all the work that went in to bringing the project to the groundbreaking stage, said the Town totally supports the library.

Ms. Robotti thanked those former trustees who demonstrated foresight and persistence. She paid homage to two former trustees, Archer Brown and Paul Mobius, both of whom passed away this year.