Great Neck Library Board trustees officially approved space planners on Tuesday night, setting the stage for a redesign of the Parkville and Station branches.
MDA designgroup, an architectural planning firm that has worked on both residences and cultural institutions like libraries, will get up to $65,000 for coming up with a new plan for Parkville Branch and $50,000 for the Station Branch.
Robert Schaufeld, president of the library board, noted that the Great Neck Library had been looking into redesigning the two branches for several years. But it was put on hold due to the renovations at the Main Library, he said.
“We felt we owed an obligation to the community to have the library be in the best condition to satisfy the patrons’ needs,” Schaufeld said. “And over the years, the branches have not been brought current.”
Among some ideas raised were expanding the children’s area and having private study rooms in Parkville, Schaufeld added, and converting old offices in the back of Station Branch into spaces people can use.
There is no exact timeline on when the branches could experience any changes, but the process will involve the design team meeting with board members, staff and the branch committee for input, Schaufeld said, going “back and forth until a design is approved.”
Trustee Marietta DiCamillo, the library board’s treasurer, expressed confidence in the firm.
“I think they’re going to do a great job,” DiCamillo said at the meeting.
In unrelated business, DiCamillo expressed concerns that she had not been able to review discrepancies between a presentation about an outside auditor’s report by a representative of R.S. Abrams & Co. LLP and the actual report.
But with a deadline for filing a report approaching, DiCamillo said she did not want the library to incur any penalties and requested a representative come to the next Finance Committee meeting.
“We just have certain filing requirements in connection with our bonds, and the time of the audit was such that Marietta did not have sufficient time to review it prior to the board acting on it,” Schaufeld said.
