The oldest library on Long Island needs an upgrade. Officials with the Bryant Library reiterated that claim once again at a well-attended public meeting at the library's Helen Glannon Room, held last Wednesday night.

Up to 120 local residents traveled to the library to hear a presentation on a conceptual plan for a renovated Bryant Library by Todd Harvey, an architect hired by the board of trustees to work on the proposed renovation. The evening also included a talk on the current needs of the library by Elizabeth McCloat, the library's director.

The library's board of trustees has spent well over a year conducting "exhaustive professional research" while coming to a conclusion on how to proceed with library renovation. The conceptual plan they have settled on will add 23,000 square feet of new space to the building. The entire renovation is estimated to cost $15 million. The trustees hope to hold a bond referendum on the issue in April, 2004.

More specifically, the renovation will entail the relocation of the Valentine House back to its original location and attached to the existing library. Todd Harvey said that the cost of moving the house would amount to $100,000. According to library officials, such a move would allow for the integrated use of the Valentine House for library materials, plus expanded parking on the south side of Paper Mill Road.

Other renovation features include:

* Three-story additions that will be made to the north and south sides of the existing building.

* A one-story addition to be constructed over the existing main floor.

In all, library officials maintain that such renovations would result in a "greatly improved" traffic flow with parking spaces to be "modestly increased." In response to an audience question, Todd Harvey said the parking space increase would go from the current 50 spaces to 63 or 64 spaces.

The conceptual plan was also completed after the board of trustees conducted an extensive study for every department of the library. According to library officials, the analyses included: current and projected use of the space; equipment; collections; and patron traffic flow.

Library officials also made available more specifics of what a renovated Bryant Library would contain. They include: expanded and accessible shelving for books and audio/visual items; quiet research areas and small conference space; a special area for teens with computers, group study and meeting space; an enlarged Children's Room with more computers, shelving and educational play/space; restrooms on each floor; comfortable seating and reading areas; additional computers and a designated computer training center; and "comfortable seating and reading areas."

In addition, the renovated library, according to the board of trustees, would be a completely handicapped-accessible, energy efficient, and technologically up-to-date building. Library officials claim the conceptual plan was completed with its authors "mindful of the historic nature" of the community, the park setting, and "previous concerns about the scale of expansion." In all, it is a plan that is a "sensitive approach to the library's place in the community."

The $15 million cost of the conceptual plan translates into a cost of $2.65 per $100 of assessed value, or approximately $175 per year for the average homeowner in the Roslyn area. The library based its cost on the new Nassau County assessment.

Funding for the renovation would come through the issuance of bonds either by the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) or Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). The library is currently projecting a 20-year term on the bond at a fixed interest rate. Library officials have also noted the current low interest rates as a reason that the time is right for a renovation project.

Library officials cited the need for major upgrade, based mostly on the claim that the current building is not large enough to house all the activities and materials the Roslyn community needs from its library.

As they have in the past, library officials once again noted that overall circulation has increased to 300,000, up 5.5 percent over the last two years. In addition, audio/visual circulation has increased 11.2 percent, while public access computer use jumped from 8,393 to 17,830 since its inauguration four years ago.

Library officials said that children's reading clubs are at an "all-time high" with 3,600 books being read. In addition, 330 adult programs brought in more than 15,000 people to the library, itself the "highest attendance" in Nassau County. Library officials also claim that due to space constraints, for "each new book added, one must be discarded." Finally, the building, they claim, suffers from outdated electrical, cooling, and heating systems.

"Our library has not seen a major upgrade in the past four decades and can no longer meet community expectations," a statement from the library's board of trustees read. "Now the library must accommodate technological advances and address the educational and cultural needs of Roslyn, from our youngest children to our senior citizens."

If a bond vote is held in April 2004 and if it is approved, then construction on a renovated Bryant Library could begin in February 2005, Todd Harvey said. Completion of the entire project could be realized in April 2006.

In the question and answer session that followed the presentations, some local residents thought the project was "too extravagant," while others worried over the tax burden and maintenance costs the new library would entail.

Others noted the special place the library has had in the life of the community and felt that the renovation would be necessary and complementary improvement to a new building that is used by all segments of the Roslyn population.