Sayville Library marks centennial

The small-town feel of the Sayville Library started a century ago, above a butcher shop at 16 South Main St. with 1,500 books, said library director Alice Lepore.

On Saturday, dozens of residents poured into the library in its latest incarnation at 88 Greene Ave. to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

"Libraries have a place in the community and offer so much," Lepore said. "We're still about literacy, but we're also about a sense of place."

The library was opened Nov. 14, 1914, by the then-named Women's Village Improvement Society, after Andrew Carnegie's foundation denied its members financial support, members said.

"These libraries were reading rooms . . . but they also were social gathering places. They had concerts. They had lectures," Lepore said, adding the goal for the founders was to "provide reading materials, but also culture, education; so that still is what we do today."

In 1923, the library moved to the home of Reuben Edwards at South Main Street and Collins Avenue, where it underwent three renovations and served generations.

A new library was completed in 2009 after the community approved a roughly $14 million referendum in 2006, Lepore said. The 40,000-square-foot structure has separate areas for teens, children and community meeting rooms, and more than 300,000 items.

On Saturday, the Twin Shores Chorus, of the Barbershop Harmony Society, serenaded visitors as the Friends of Sayville Library doled out refreshments. A trolley tour took riders to historic spots such as the Sayville Railroad Station built in 1870.

Patricia Jenninson, 71, and her granddaughter Kate Leighmanuell, 8, both of Sayville, said a high point of the tour was visiting a location where George Washington is said to have lunched. "I think he had pizza!" said Kate, who enjoys reading the library's Nancy Drew and Little House on the Prairie books.

Wendy Wigger, 38, of Sayville said the library provides novels she reads while commuting, saving her space at home and money. "It's a place that's always here for the community," she said.

Steve and Lydia Burgardt of Sayville and their 8-year-old son Adam worked together on a trivia quiz using information from a timeline display.

"I think it's important to go to the library, because if there was no library, then where would you get your books?" said Adam, who likes reading about space.

Lydia Burgardt said the three-day celebration, which concludes Sunday, offered an opportunity to learn about where she lived, adding the newer library provided more room to bring patrons together.

Lepore said the library has become a natural part of many people's days -- "something we hope continues for another 100 years."