Work at the Bar Harbour Library has continued to progress on time, said Library Director William Serynek. "There have been no substantial changes in plans," he noted. "It's been going slower than I anticipated," he said, "but the contractors expect the pace to pick up.

Serynek said that a few months ago contractors found a few leaching pools left over from an old sump system, but they have since been removed. The pools were not anticipated because they were not marked on the library's land maps.

The date of completion for the project remains February 1999, at which time construction will begin at the Central Avenue Library.

Serynek said that the Bar Harbour Library will be closed for a two-week period in the fall when books and equipment from the old portion of the building are moved into the newly constructed area.

But, as a part of the project, the stone wall on the north end of the building is going to be eliminated to make room for a new ramp. The wall on the south side will remain intact.

The library construction project is part of a $3 million expansion/renovation project, approved by residents of the Massapequa School District in a special bond issue election in October 1996. The project is being funded by a 20-year bond issued at current interest rates.

The project will add 8,000 square feet of additional space at Bar Harbour and 2,000 square feet at Central Avnue When the project is completed, Bar Harbour will be equipped with handicap access and an elevator. The new library will also include an auditorium-like theater with a sloped floor, a stage with curtains, and a PA system.

The plans also call for a new children's room on the upper level of the Bar Harbour Library. "We are bringing the children's room out of the basement and into the sunlight," commented Serynek in an interview last August.

The Central Avenue project is expected to take four to six months to complete. The project will include a more comfortable lounge area, an improved meeting area, 14 new computers and a new sliding door entrance.

Both libraries will be fitted for new quiet rooms for those patrons looking to concentrate on their reading.