Lawrence Jorgensen, the 10-year trustee of the library board who is a visible volunteer in the local community, will serve another 5-year term on the board after winning an unopposed bid for re-election to the position this week.

Farmingdale voters returned him to the position during the May 18 district election, which was held in conjunction with the Farmingdale Schools budget and board of trustees vote. He received 1702 votes.

Jorgensen, who has held the offices of vice president and secretary of the board, said during a recent interview that his goals for the new term include working with his fellow trustees and the library director to expand Internet service, which was initiated at the library two years ago, expanding the book collection through continuing to use the money from the sale of the old Main Street Library for this, revising plans for a coffee bar at the library, and finishing the stage located in the 300-seat auditorium of the new library's basement, with such features as new curtains. The completion of the stage in the auditorium would allow the library to host cultural events, such as plays, which Jorgensen also wants.

He would also like to expand the library's volunteer program. "I'd like to publicize that more. I think that's a great program," he said of the program, which includes an adopt-a-shelf program, service to the homebound and an information and referral service for senior citizens.

The trustee also wants to increase the library's outreach to the community, and would like to see local youngsters get more involved with the repository of knowledge. He points to the Read With a Rotarian program, a Rotary project that he implemented in the Farmingdale Library, as an example of how this can be done. "I really think that if you get the kids when they're young away from the TV and more into reading, and actually working with computers, we'll be ahead of the game," he said.

Membership on the library board is but one of many ties that Jorgensen, who retired eight years ago after 24 years as a hospital administrator, has to the local community. For example, he has been involved with the Farmingdale School District's Citizen's Advisory Council, which forges partnerships between schools, business and the community, for 13 years, chairing it for 10 years. He has been a member of the Friends of the Library, a group formed to promote voter approval of the bond issue that financed the construction of the new Farmingdale Library, for 10 years. The group is currently working on raising funds for cultural activities at the library.

A member of the Farmingdale Breakfast Rotary Club and the Village of Farmingdale Planning Board, Jorgensen has also been on the Board of Trustees of the Nassau Library System for the past 6 years.

A resident of the school district for 60 years, he is also a graduate of the Farmingdale School system. Both he and his wife, to whom he has been married 41 years, graduated from the Main Street School. He noted that that they are deeply rooted in Farmingdale, and that he is looking forward to continuing to work for the benefit of the community.

"I really like this community, and when my wife retires I have no intention of moving out of Farmingdale to Florida or anywhere else," he said. "We're right here. We're staying right here."

According to Jorgensen, the most notable recent accomplishments of the library board, in addition to the opening of the new library in 1994, include the expansion of the library's books, videos and computers, and opening up the library's doors to community groups, such as the local historical society and senior citizens.

He is also proud of the Tammy Greenspan Head Injury book collection, which was unveiled at the library last year. "It's now a national resource," he said. "I'd like to see if we can expand that."

As local governing bodies go, the board in recent years has seemed to be a stable one, as illustrated by this year's uncontested election. "There's not much of a turnover," Jorgensen said, acknowledging this. He added that even when Paul Gatto retired last year after over 20 years of service as a trustee, he was the first member in several years who chose not to run for re-election. Gatto was replaced by Rosemary Trudden, who won a three-way contested election.

"We don't always agree one hundred percent. That's certain," noted Jorgensen. "We have some pretty good discussions, especially in the executive session - we talk about personnel and security matters - things like that, but we get along quite well."

The slate of officers of the current Library Board of Trustees are Thomas Arangio, president; Laurie Rozakis, vice-president; Laura Ulric, treasurer; Larry Jorgensen, secretary. Trustee Rosemary Trudden co-chairs the building and grounds committee with Jorgensen.

Jorgensen added that he would like to see the community contribute more input to the board, and said that the library administration is encouraging residents to attend their public meetings.

"We let people know, that 'Hey, we're here, and we're interested in what you think we should have, what you think we should do,'" he said.