Donated books stack up at community library

A memorial library started in June by a group of volunteers in the laundry room of troubled Andpress Plaza in North Amityville has since received more than 7,000 donated books from Long Islanders, say group members Debbie Walcott and Tracy Smitherman.

"The outpouring of giving hearts has overwhelmed us all," Smitherman wrote to Newsday.

The library, which began with 500 books, is dedicated to the memory of Chantell Mallory and Aaron Thomas, two former Plaza residents who shared a love of reading. Both died recently and at young ages.

Donors included the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library and Adam Davies, a rising junior at Garden City High School, who donated more than 4,000 books collected from fellow students, teachers and community members.

After receiving a deluge of books in response to a story in Newsday about the library, volunteers found they were unable to accept all of the donations, Walcott said.

The group kept some of the books, according to Walcott, and donated more than 4,000 to three Wyandanch public schools -- Milton L. Olive Middle School, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary and the LaFrancis Hardiman Elementary.

Walcott says adults and children have been borrowing the books, and several mothers have started a book-reading club for the kids.

"We also received a couple of SAT books and college books, and we can see the kids are already using them," Walcott said. "We got four or five, and we only have one left in the bookcase. We're glad they were put to good use."

Smitherman said the owner of Andpress Plaza has allotted additional space for a third bookcase and the groundskeeper gave them a table and four chairs. The volunteer group recently constructed the new bookcase, Walcott said.

"We go there once a week and clean it up, and make sure everything is nice, putting in more books when we get them," she said.

The group, all of whose members hail from the surrounding community, calls itself Mission Accomplished. For the past two years, it has held weekly vigils and seasonal celebrations at the Plaza, which has had a history of crime and violence, police have said.

Mission Accomplished is planning to hold a back-to-school event for school-age residents of the Plaza in late August, complete with bookbags of donated school supplies.

School supplies can be dropped off at Smitherman's house, 66 Tyrconnell St. in Amityville, between noon and 6 p.m. during the first three Saturdays in August.