Mastics-Moriches-Shirley library to relocate to rec center temporarily

The main branch of the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library will move to a temporary location in Mastic next month while the branch is renovated as part of a $26 million expansion, officials said Tuesday.

The Shirley branch on William Floyd Parkway will close early next month and the temporary branch will open on June 6 at Brookhaven Town's Mastic Recreation Center at 15 Herkimer St., officials said. The branch will operate there about 18 months.

Staff and programs also are expected to move later this year to new branches in Mastic Beach and Moriches.

Officials said the move to the recreation center was not anticipated when, in December 2019, voters approved a bond to expand the main branch and add the new branches.

But like so many things in the past two years, COVID-19 changed plans and caused delays in deliveries of key building materials such as electrical equipment, doors and windows, library director Kerri Rosalia told Newsday.

“We knew we were going to close for renovations," Rosalia said, adding the pandemic also caused delays in state and local permit approvals. "We can’t wait any longer. ... We had hoped to catch up along the way, but supply chain issues that came up this spring caused further delays.”

Brookhaven is making about half of the 6,625-square-foot recreation center available to the library, which already runs a digital media lab at the site, Town Councilman Dan Panico said. The library will use the space at no charge, he said.

The library generally will operate during weekday afternoons, he said.

“They’re going to be able to use essentially the entirety of the facility after the town senior program," which closes about noon, Panico said. "It’s an opportunity for the town to bring more programming into the center, out into the community, and it’s an opportunity for the library to continue some of their programs while construction is underway at their main library building, and get into an area of the town to make it more convenient for people who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to use the facility.”

Residents had voted 1,173-1,078 in 2019 to approve a $22.6 million bond that pays the bulk of the expansion and renovation project. The balance will come from grants and reserves, officials said. 

The bond will increase taxes on the average home assessed at $1,995 by about $86 per year, officials have said.

Rosalia said the 7,000-square-foot Mastic Beach branch, in the former village hall on Neighborhood Road, is expected to open this fall. The 7,000-square-foot Moriches branch also will open this fall near the William Floyd school district's Little Red Schoolhouse, which will be preserved as part of the plan, she said.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.