Support Your Local Library

By Chana Rochel Ross

When I was 16 years old, my family moved from Far Rockaway to the Five Towns. One of the hard things about the move was the knowledge that the library was no longer within easy walking distance. Fortunately, my father drove us to our new library, Peninsula, every Friday and erev yom tov. I spent so much time wandering the stacks, choosing piles of books to read that week. The library was home.

Home could use some repair. Twenty years ago, when the school board made the decision to sell the Number 1 school, the library asked for part of the property so that they could expand their building. When the school board turned them down, the library made plans to build a new building at Zion Park. However, those plans were shut down in 2018 without a vote from the community.

Undaunted, the library made plans to renovate the current building. Outgoing library director Carolynn Matulewicz says she had been “working with the architect from a company called BBS. They have drawn up the most amazing plans to renovate and expand our building. The previous board voted back in October of 2025 to move ahead with a $10M renovation and go out for bond to the public.” But the board has since changed—three trustees were appointed or elected in the past year—and the plan isn’t moving forward.

Board president Akiva Lubin explained to me that his role on the board is to make sure that the library is doing the best it can within budgetary constraints, and that he considers it inappropriate for him to further any action that would increase the library’s budget. He feels that any proposal that would require additional funding needs to come from the community, not the library board.

Lubin notes that being a board member is a volunteer position and that he views it as a chesed. I do not doubt his sincerity, but I disagree strongly with his approach.

It is my contention that the board’s role should be as advocates of the library. If the budget isn’t high enough, he should put out a higher budget in May and see if the public agrees to it. If he agrees with us that the library should be renovated but doesn’t think that people would agree to the cost, he should let us vote on it. It is frustrating as a taxpayer and a patron of the library that we are not given the opportunity to vote on these issues.

Matulewicz also believes members of the public should be able to vote on what they want. “Is the community willing to spend an extra $100 a year on average per household to improve the library? My answer for the last 10 years has been yes, I believe they would. Unfortunately, the Board believes they won’t.” A vote could settle this.

There are other areas where the present board and I seem to have different priorities. The elevator broke down 4 months ago. Matulewicz explains that it could have been fixed by now if the board had declared it an emergency. “I stated to the board several times that anybody who has mobility issues cannot attend our programs, anybody that may be in a wheelchair who needs to use a restroom—to me that constituted a dire emergency.” Instead, they initiated a non-emergency bid process, and the elevator is still months away from being fixed.

Lubin says that the board followed the guidance of the library’s lawyer regarding the elevator, and that the process is proceeding as fast as was feasible.

In October, Lubin raised the question of whether people without library cards should be allowed to enter the library, citing safety concerns. Both Matulewicz and assistant director Rhonda Todtman explained that that’s not how libraries work. As Matulewicz told me, “all libraries are mandated to be open to all. We do not have to honor them taking out materials and such, but they have to be able to come in the building, they can read books in the building, they can use our computers, they can do that.”

It is concerning to me that a library trustee would even entertain such an idea. Libraries exist as a public good. Aside from lending books, audiobooks, DVDs, and museum passes, libraries give people a quiet place to work, computers to use, and more. Our library has many in-person and remote programs for both children and adults. Although library card holders have priority for some in-library resources, it is very important that the library be accessible to all.

The library is currently looking for a new director and here too, the board is looking to cut costs in a way I find unwise. The board is looking to hire someone with a $80-95K salary, which is lower than Peninsula has paid until now, and is also significantly less than what is being offered by other nearby libraries that are looking to fill the same position. This, for the library with the highest circulation in all of Nassau County! It seems unlikely that a good director would be willing to accept this salary when the assistant director is receiving a higher salary. It also doesn’t bode well for what might be offered to future library workers. All library workers deserve fair salaries that reflect how hard they work for the community.

Lubin says that the salary offer is in line with those of other libraries—even generous, in light of the benefits package—and that the board has received many applications and they are in the process of interviewing the candidates. However, according to seethroughny.net, a website that breaks down the budget of NY government agencies, the average salary for directors in Nassau County is $130-150K.

The public will be able to vote in May on the library board’s makeup. The current board has three members who are up for election this year. Last year, two trustees—Joseph Lifschutz and Miriam Statman—were appointed without election and will now run to keep their seats, and president Akiva Lubin is up for reelection. Petitions for others to run will open in April. I would like to see more candidates who believe in the power of libraries in general, and this one in particular.

“I wish the community would come to board meetings,” Matulewicz concluded, explaining that the board really needs to hear feedback firsthand. “The community is the library. They’re the people who pay us and we should be doing what the community wants us to do. But they need to be more active in letting the board know and letting the library know what their needs are.” We should do that. Board meetings take place monthly; the information can be found at peninsulapublic.org/admin_libinfo.php. n