Bay Shore people: Library director Eileen Kavanagh

Eileen Kavanagh, 65, Bay Shore
Director
Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library

In fact, last summer, we had people who had out-of-town summer guests bring them to the library to see it. We started to get used to it, being a part of the tour. That’s a lovely thing. I never had people come stop over to see the library when they were visiting before.

Lots of community organizations meet here and they have been for going on 50 years. We post and disseminate information for them.

Pretty much anything that’s going on, we hear about it over the circulation desk. People come in here and they talk.

What’s interesting is the generations in this town. Families raise their kids, send them off to college, then they get jobs in the city and get married, and at the first hint of a baby, they come back here and buy a house. We see a lot of repetition of last names.

The African-American population came to support the resort hotels in the late 1800s and stayed. The community has worked really hard to incorporate everybody.

Main Streets are always a problem, but currently ours is very active. We have restaurants and offices. The Y was a great addition and also the Boulton Center on Main Street.