We would like to say that ground has been broken for the new West Hempstead Public Library at the intersection of Woodfield Road and Hempstead Avenue. We would like to say that, but it simply wouldn't be true. Instead, excavation has begun at the infamous "Storage Facility Site" for another edifice - a storage facility, we suppose.

There is an ad for an insurance company which runs frequently in the national magazines. Pictured, alternatively, are the Wright Brother's first flight, man walking on the moon, immigrants on a ship entering New York harbor, and the construction of the Empire State Building, each with erasures running across them, the caption reading -- 'The Greatest Risk Is Not Taking One.' How true. To take a chance on rebuilding a neighborhood, on anchoring a community, on shaping an enlightened future - risky business, indeed. We were not willing to take that risk - as if libraries, wherever they may stand, pose a risk to either society or community. So what if we didn't build that library? And, perhaps, we should have thought better about being first in flight, about taking that giant leap for mankind, about crossing uncertain seas to catch a glimpse of Lady Liberty, and about erecting skyscrapers as symbols of our Empire State. Think of the risks that were taken. Imagine if those who had taken them had not seen the potential benefits as even greater than the inherent risks.

Will West Hempstead ever see a new public library? We certainly hope so - and in this lifetime. A top notch community such as ours needs a first class library. We deserve one. We can risk our future, and that of our children, by simply choosing to do nothing. Or, we can seize the opportunity while it still avails itself, and build that library. We may soar but a few hundred feet, take but one small step, and rise no higher than those pesky LIRR billboards, but oh, what a journey it would be.

Seth D. Bykofsky

President

West Hempstead Civic Association