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File photo by Giselle Barkley

Tensions swelled inside the Rocky Point High School auditorium during a special meeting of the Rocky Point school district board of education on Thursday, July 28.

In early July, the board reversed its longstanding practice regarding book donations, deciding to no longer accept books from the public. The controversy centers around a June donation made by district parent Allison Villafane, who donated several books exploring themes dealing with sexuality, gender identity and race during Pride Month.

“This past June, in keeping with my past practice, I have donated books to promote diversity, equity and inclusion,” she told the board. “These books were best sellers, approved by the library here.”

In an interview, Villafane shared the list of the seven titles that were included in the donation, saying these books were intended to be spread out across different schools throughout the district depending upon age appropriateness. The titles are:

  • “Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly 
  • “All Different and Beautiful: A Children’s Book about Diversity, Kindness, and Friendships” by Belle Belrose 
  • “Our Diversity Makes Us Stronger: Social Emotional Book for Kids about Diversity and Kindness” by Elizabeth Cole 
  • “Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • “The 1619 Project: Born on the Water” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson 
  • “Pink Is for Boys” by Robb Pearlman 
  • “The List of Things That Will Not Change” by Rebecca Stead

Jessica Ward, president of the board of education, defended the decision. She said the board did not take its decision lightly and that all five members of the board had arrived at its determination together.

Ward told the public that the decision was motivated by a basic lack of expertise on how to evaluate children’s literature.

“None of us — the five of us on the board — are experts in children’s literature,” Ward said. “None of us has a master’s degree in library science … so we thought it would be best for all of our schools to allow our librarians, who are the experts in children’s literature, to populate their libraries and their catalogs with books of their choosing.”

Villafane detailed her past practice of donating materials, saying she has made several rounds of donations over the years as each of her four children has moved through the school district. In the past, Villafane has donated materials regarding food allergies. In other years, they would focus on promoting diversity or compassion.

She said this most recent donation is not a significant departure from her past practice. Because the books were already in circulation in various school libraries throughout the district, Villafane believed she was performing a service to the school by making the approved books more accessible.

Villafane suggested the board was applying an arbitrary standard to her donation, asking if the board would apply this same standard to the donations of gifts such as piano keyboards and trumpets.

Responding to these charges, Ward said that the board’s decision “wasn’t necessarily in response to the books that you donated. It was in response to all books.” 

She added, “Our current policy says … that we may accept gifts, grants … as well as other merchandise. If there was something else [such as] a musical instrument or some other educational or instructional item that you or someone wanted to donate, then we would take that on a case-by-case basis, but we are not taking any donations of books.”

Along with Villafane, other members of the public joined in their criticism of the board’s decision. Ernestine Franco, a resident of Sound Beach, said the board did not apply reason to its decision and that it failed to properly consider the consequences.

“If it was just a change of practice, then they did it very badly,” she said in an interview. “That’s what makes me think it was a political move.” She added, “Even if they wanted to do what they did, there had to be some logic to it and there wasn’t.”

Bea Ruberto, also a Sound Beach resident, concurred with this assessment, arguing the decision was a product of hasty decision-making and primarily motivated by the board members’ political preferences.

“I am convinced that it is political,” Ruberto said in an interview. “I am also convinced that for them to do that, they didn’t look at the practice they had in the past on how to deal with and accept book donations.”

Despite criticism from the public, there were others who responded favorably. One such individual, identified as “Ms. Sarlo” in the meeting’s minutes, defended the decision. According to her, it is best for the board not to consider these materials as there is no universal agreement on their content. 

“I think that the decision was the correct one because … not everybody agrees with all of the books,” she said. “There are so many more important things that we need to be talking about that the board could be spending time on instead of book donations.”

Franco disagreed with this assessment, suggesting that it minimizes the issues at stake and offers a convenient excuse for the board to rid itself of accountability.

“I think [Sarlo] was trying to validate what happened by saying it wasn’t important,” Franco said, adding, “But what’s important, at least to me, is not the book but what the book stands for, which is education. … Instead of opening up to a very diverse atmosphere, they’re trying to close up the atmosphere to what kids are going to be exposed to.”

Villafane suggested that the board’s new practice on book donations violates common sense. She believes the board can correct course by adopting a new policy allowing the acceptance of books for titles that are already in circulation.

“It’s not rocket science,” she said. “There is a database of books that have been approved for distribution at various grade levels, so as long as the book you want to donate is within that system, you should feel free to donate it.”

The Rocky Point board of education will reconvene on Monday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m., where deliberations on book donations are likely to continue.

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'Below the Ocean'
First 25 participants receive free copy of book

Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker has self-published a children’s picture book on ocean pollution titled Below the Ocean: Keeping Our Sea Friends Safe. The book targets young children ages 2-10 years and provides an engaging story about a young seal and her encounters with ocean pollution.

Leg. Sarah Anker

“Having raised 3 children and knowing how important it is to teach our kids about respecting and maintaining our environment, I decided to take the plunge into writing this book, as well as additional children’s environmental books. Long before I ran for public office, I was involved in beach cleanups, advocating for clean water and air, recycling our garbage and preserving open space. We all need to do more, and I hope this book will inspire children and their parents to be environmental superheroes,” said Anker.

The illustrator, Lily Liu, is an award-winning artist who has provided illustrations for several top-selling children’s books. The vibrant colors and adorable characters capture your attention as the main character, Sophia the Seal, encounters ocean garbage and learns how it is affecting sea life and our ocean.

Plastics have been on Earth for close to 70 years and in that time, we have created over 9 billion tons of plastic waste. Most plastics are not recycled and end up as garbage in landfills and in our ocean. Below the Ocean not only informs young readers about ocean pollution, but it also provides insight on what they can do to keep our ocean clean and safe and encourages them to be a Sea Hero. The book is available online at www.amazon.com. For more information go to www.Ankerbooks.com.

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Families with young children are invited to join Leg. Anker for a book launch at Comsewogue Public Library, 170 Terryville Road, Port Jefferson Station on Thursday, July 28 at 2:30 p.m. The educational presentation will feature a reading of the book, a Q&A, book signing and crafts. The first 25 books will be given out for free. To register for this event, call the library at 631-928-1212 or email [email protected].

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Stock photo

Northport Public Library, 151 Laurel Ave., Northport will host a Job Fair on Wednesday, July 27 from 10 a.m. to noon.  Meet representatives from Elara Caring, SCOPE, Forest Hills Financial Group, NYS Dept of Corrections, NY Life, Citation Healthcare Labels, Developmental Disabilities Institute, Retail Management Inc, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Circor, Suffolk County Police Dept, Suffolk Transportation and more! Bring your resume and dress to impress. To register, visit bit.ly/NorthportDOL. For more information, call 631-261-6930.

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The Liverpool Shuffle

Harborfields Public Library, 31 Broadway, Greenlawn hosts an outdoor concert by Beatles tribute band The Liverpool Shuffle on Wednesday, July 27 at 7 p.m.

Originally formed in 2003 by Joe Refano, (formerly of Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone and Micky Dolenz’ Monkees Band), The Liverpool Shuffle brings together veterans of the New York Music Scene with a combined 200 years of musical experience between them. They are all avowed BEATLEMANIACS and it shows! The Liverpool Shuffle provides a fun, entertaining LIVE BEATLE SHOW with a real emphasis on the music. They play it the way The Beatles did!

Join the Liverpool Shuffle on the front lawn of the Library for an exciting outdoor concert. Tickets are not required, the concert is open to all. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. In the event of rain, the performance will be postponed.  A rain date will be announced if needed.

For more information, call 631-757-4200.

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'The Goonies'

Middle Country Public Library, 101 Eastwood Blvd., Centereach will present the following free outdoor events for the community this summer:

Music Under the Stars: Petty Rumours

Thursday, July 12 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Join Petty Rumours for an unforgettable evening of music. This show will bring together over four decades of hits from Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac and the Traveling Wilburys. As this concert will be held outside, patrons should bring their own chairs and/or blankets. Food trucks will be on hand beginning at 6pm and performance begins at 7 p.m.

Music Under the Stars: 20 Highview

Tuesday, August 9 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Get down with 20 Highview, a nine-piece powerhouse band specializing in dance classics with funk grooves. They will cover classics from the 60’s up to the present day. As this concert will be held outside, patrons should bring their own chairs and blankets. Food trucks will be on hand beginning at 6pm and performance begins at 7 p.m.

MCPL Under the Stars Movie Night: ‘The Goonies’

Wednesday, August 17 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Join us for an outdoor viewing of the movie, The Goonies! As this movie will be held outside, patrons should bring their own chairs and blankets. In the event of rain, the program will be rescheduled for August 25. Food truck will be on hand beginning at 7 p.m. and movie begins at 8 p.m.

For more information, call 631-585-9393

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Stock photo

Comsewouge Public Library, 170 Terryvile Road, Port Jefferson Station  will host a Job Fair on Tuesday, July 12 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Presented by the Suffolk County Department of Labor’s One-Stop Employment Center, the fair will feature representatives from Suffolk Transportation, Amazon, Doyle Security Services, Stony Brook University, Gardaworld, Express Employment Professionals, First Student, Ideal Homecare Services, Trinity Solar, Sun River Health, Services for the Underserved, Center for Discovery, Citation Healthcare Labels, Developmental Disabilities Institute, Options for Community Living and more!

No registration required. Bring your resume and dress for success. For more information, call 631-928-1212.

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Library teen volunteers will be on hand to accept donations. Photo from Emma Clark Library

Throughout the month of July, Emma Clark Library, 120 Main St., Setauket will be collecting nonperishable food items to be donated to local food pantries and nonprofit organizations. 

Food pantries often see bare shelves during the summer and need help with restocking items for those who are food insecure. Library teen volunteers will be collecting contributions that the public donates to the Library and delivering the food to various food pantries throughout the community. 

Donation boxes will be located in the Library lobby to the left of the Circulation Desk, and all are welcome to donate during Library hours. Some suggestions for food items include cereal, peanut butter, jelly, canned fruits and vegetables, rice, beans, tuna fish, juice, gum, snacks (pretzels, granola bars, trail mix, cookies), pasta, and pasta sauce. 

For more information, call 631-941-4080 or visit www.emmaclark.org.

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Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in Setauket. Photo by Elyse Sutton

By Nancy Marr

I have heard many people remark that libraries have become irrelevant. E-books, Google, and the internet can answer all our questions, saving taxpayers money and freeing up buildings for other uses. But is that true?

In the eighteenth century, the first step toward sharing books came with subscription libraries, which were owned and managed by members who paid an annual subscription fee. The first of these in the United States, still extant and called the Library Company of Philadelphia, was established in 1790 by Benjamin Franklin and his friends, who created the Company by pooling their books to make them available to all the members of the Company. Other subscription libraries continued through the mid-nineteenth century for men who could afford to pay for them, and many are still in existence today.  

Circulating libraries, often started by publishers of books that were more “popular” than those selected by the subscription libraries, made books available to people who could not afford to join a subscription library. The success of the subscription and circulating libraries probably retarded the growth of public libraries as we know them.

The social atmosphere of the subscription libraries satisfied many and others, women, in particular, could obtain the books about romance that they liked that they expected  would not be available in public libraries.  Community libraries grew in number, often starting as collections by wealthy readers. By 1935, libraries served 35 percent of the American people depending on local taxes or donations to maintain them. 

Andrew Carnegie was the spark that spread libraries across the United States with his donations. In 1899 he granted 5.2 million dollars to the New York Public Library to build a network of 67 branch libraries in the five boroughs. The city provided sites for the libraries and enough money to provide staff. Small towns received $10,000 for each library and had to provide $1,000 a year for maintenance. 

Although in principle libraries saw themselves as providing works of history, geography, and technical and scientific books, in the 1890’s libraries reported that 65 to 90 percent of books that were borrowed were works of fiction. The American Library Association (ALA), formed in 1876, offered a series of guides for small libraries.

The ALA, in response to demands to purge books that were anti-American in the Chicago library in 1939, issued a statement affirming the librarians’ right to choose what books should be in their collection. With the onset of Cold War anxieties, demands that librarians sign loyalty oaths split the ALA until the Supreme Court decided that Congress could ban only material “utterly without redeeming social importance.”  

To support the public libraries and help them provide the best in library service, organizations like the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in New York were formed. It expands the services of the 51 member libraries in Suffolk, runs the inter-library loan system, digitizes newspapers and other documents, helps with resource sharing and technical proficiency, and supports services to special client groups. 

Many local libraries have stepped into the role of community centers — providing meeting places for organizations, offering technical assistance to patrons with reference and computer questions, sponsoring book groups and classes in English, gardening, and cooking. Some libraries have hired part-time social workers and financial counselors, providing help to those who request it. Many have assembled useful tools for patrons to borrow, as well as seed collections for home gardens, kits and equipment for bird viewing and sports activities. 

Recently, some taxpayers have asserted that they, and others who agree with them, should have more of a say about what books are available, and what subjects are taught in public schools. They support library and school board members who have the same opinion, and are likely to oppose passing the library and school budgets. Although early librarians, thinking they were protecting readers, chose only those books that they approved of, they now follow the position of the ALA against censorship and line their shelves with books chosen because of their literary value or value to patrons.     

Libraries must rely on funding from taxpayers at an annual vote each spring.  If you haven’t been to your library recently, make a visit and see how much it offers, if not to you, then to job seekers using the computers, to families who cannot afford to buy books or DVD’s, to elderly people relying on the book-delivery service, or to anyone looking for a book to read that will open a new road. Vote to support the budget and the library. 

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

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A few books in the Smithtown Library children’s collection were part of pride displays that were temporarily removed in the children’s department before the board rescinded an earlier vote. Photo from Smithtown Library Facebook

Within 48 hours, The Smithtown Library Board of Trustees reversed a controversial decision made at its June 21 meeting.

Initially, the trustees voted 4-2, with one member absent, to remove pride displays, which included signs and books, in the children’s sections in its Smithtown, Commack, Kings Park and Nesconset branches. Two days later, the board held an emergency meeting and reversed its decision, again 4-2, with one board member abstaining.

The reversal came after criticism from the community on social media platforms. Among the critics were Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), the New York Library Association and author Jodi Picoult, who grew up in the town and was a page at the library when she was younger. She said on her Facebook page the initial decision “disgusts me and makes me reevaluate an institution that I have praised for being formative in my life as an author.”

The books remained available in the library’s children’s collection during the temporary removal and could be checked out, according to a June 22 memo from library trustees. Pride displays in the adult and teen sections remained.

After the reversal of the decision during the board’s emergency June 23 meeting, another memo was posted to the library’s website announcing the rescinding of the decision.

“The majority of the board recognizes that our earlier decision was made without the time, care and due diligence that a decision of this type deserves and that it was the wrong decision,” the memo read.

No public comments were accepted during the June 23 meeting, which was held via Zoom.

Thomas Maher, vice president of trustees, said at this meeting he supports the LGBTQ+ community’s rights. He said during the June 21 meeting, there was a passionate discussion about the displays, and the subject was discussed for a while. It was discovered there wasn’t a library policy about internal displays. He said his initial vote to remove the displays “was intended to enable the library to continue to offer all of its existing resources to all of its patrons in a peaceful and cooperative manner during this time of transition.” On June 23, he voted for the return of the displays.

Trustee Marie Gergenti voted twice for the removal. She said during the June 23 meeting she received messages from patrons.

“They felt that little children were exposed to some images in some of those books, and they weren’t happy about it,” she said.

Theresa Grisafi, a trustee who also voted twice for the removal, added many felt the displays in the children’s rooms were not age appropriate for young library patrons.

“The concern was for the small children,” she said.

She said she tried to convey that at the initial meeting and said it had nothing to do with anyone’s personal feelings.

Trustee member Marilyn LoPresti abstained from voting on June 23 and said she would like to research the matter further.

Library board president Brianna Baker-Stines said at the June 23 meeting, “We assumed a role that was not our job.”

Baker-Stines added that it was the librarians’ jobs to set up displays and “we need to trust the staff we hired.”

In an email to TBR News Media, Baker-Stines said in order to create a policy regarding internal displays, legal counsel advised that a standing committee for policy creation would first need to be created. While the board has multiple standing committees, the previous ones were only ad hoc. Baker-Stines said during her time on the board the members have only had to amend policies and not create new ones, unless based on an immediate need such as the work-from-home policy adopted at the beginning of the pandemic. She said the members realized it would take several steps to establish a proper committee. 

“We knew that this process might take several meetings, which may be why some trustees were in a rush to remove the pride display that night,” she said.

Initial news coverage reported that the books were removed from the children’s collections when they were not.

“I think the wording on the motion may have led some of the media to believe the books were removed all together,” she said.

Baker-Stines said she “was devastated by the vote to remove the pride displays” and added “the library should be a safe space for every member of the public.” 

As former library page and reference clerk at Hauppauge Public Library, she said, “I have been a part of the creation of many library displays, including Pride month displays. These are materials that can be lifesaving, and also materials that are requested by patrons during this time.”

Currently, the trustees have 900 emails to go through after the community reacted to the board’s initial decision.

David Kilmnick, nonprofit LGBT Network president and CEO, said while the removal of the displays never should have happened, the community’s response “shows the power that we have as a community to do the right thing and that right thing is so simple — it is creating safe learning spaces for all of our children.”

He said the removal of the displays could have a traumatic effect on “someone seeing themselves exist one day and then erased the next and for no good reason other than hate and bias.”

Kilmnick added the community’s response showed an “outpouring of support and love.”

“There are more people on the side of equality, equity, safety and love than on the other side,” he said. “We just all have to work together and not be afraid, and it showed what we can do in a very fast, rapid, effective way when we do this together.”

The pride displays in the Smithtown Library branches will remain until July 15.

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The 2022 Dennis Cannataro Music series kicks off with the Just Sixties Band on July 7.

This article has been updated to add one more concert on August 11.

Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta has announced the return of the Dennis Cannataro Family Summer Concert Series to the Smithtown Main Library, 1 North Country Road, Smithtown which start on Thursday, July 7 and run through Aug. 11.

These concerts are made possible by a Suffolk County Omnibus grant obtained by Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta. “The free shows provide a great opportunity for everyone to enjoy themselves, hear some great music and to support our downtown merchants and local restaurants,” said Legislator Rob Trotta.

The concerts are held every Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. Bring a chair or blanket for seating.

The line-up is as follows:

July 7 – Just Sixties (60s)

July 14 – One Step Ahead (Greatest Hits)

July 21 – Petty Rumors (Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty)

July 28 – Endless Summer (60th Anniversary of the Beach Boys)

August 4 – Captain Jack (Billy Joel)

August 11 – The Gold Coast Orchestra (Motown)

For more information or in case of inclement weather on the day of the event, please go to the Smithtown Library’s website at www.smithlib.org or call 631-360-2480 ext.150 after 3 p.m.

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