Peninsula Public Library must serve patrons' interests

Peninsula Public Library’s website clearly lays out its mission.

“Our purpose is to provide for the educational and recreational needs of our patrons. Our goal is to make your library an effective, educational, informational, cultural and recreational force within our community,” the website says. But for months, the library and its trustees have failed to fulfill those promises.

The busy library in Lawrence, which also serves Cedarhurst, Atlantic Beach and other neighboring areas, has lacked leadership, including a director and assistant director, and sufficient staffing. Its trustees haven’t complied with the Open Meetings Law and have made wrongheaded decisions, such as closing the library on Saturdays and ending Zoom programming, without any attention to its patrons’ needs. The library’s building is deteriorating and insufficient. Most recently, the elevator remained broken for nine months, leaving disabled residents and parents with strollers unable to use the full facility.

Even the website, with the all-important mission, hasn’t been updated since March.

Instead, it seems, board members have focused on their own needs. They’ve amended the bylaws to allow appointed members to serve full terms, without an election, even though the policy may contradict state law. Three of the five trustees, including the board president, Akiva Lubin, have been appointed to their current posts. In one controversial move in March, Lubin resigned from one post and was immediately appointed to another seat with a longer term, through June 2029.

That move is now the subject of an appeal awaiting a decision by state Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa.

In a letter last month, state education officials also raised concerns regarding the library’s noncompliance with minimum standards to be an effective institution, which include employing a paid director. The letter required library officials to respond by Aug. 24 and warned of “corrective action, including removal by the Board of Regents.” State funding and registration status are at risk, too. If trustees are willing, they could work with the state and the Nassau Library System to put the library on a better path.

State officials told the editorial board the situation is “very unusual.” Residents, staff members and elected officials are starting to mobilize. Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Howard Kopel, who represents the area, told the editorial board he was urging the state to move forward quickly, adding: “As time moves on, the damage increases dramatically.” In a statement posted to social media, Kopel rightly said: “Public institutions work best when those who govern them are accountable to the public they serve.”

Kopel, Assemb. Ari Brown and State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick say they’ll work together on next steps. They must engage their constituents, and work with Rosa and other state officials on a quick resolution.

Meanwhile, library trustees still have an opportunity to do right by their patrons, and the remaining librarians and staffers still hard at work.

There’s only one way to do that: Return Peninsula Public Library to the communities it serves and start acting in residents’ broader interests, rather than those of an unelected few.