Community Corner

Mineola Library Gives Residents a Chance to Recharge After Sandy

Residents make use of library resources during outage.

You know it when you see it: there’s a cacophony of cars, a gathering of people. You know it’s going to be crowded, that there’s going to be a wait, but hey, times are tough, your cell phone is dying, and you’ve just got to get out of the house right now because you’re about to go stir-crazy.

In a post-Sandy village, residents find power where they can. While the main staples of Panera Bread and Dunkin’ Donuts are occupied, the Mineola Library is actually a haven, giving power to the powerless, so to speak.

“We have become the real community center,” reference librarian Pat Lackner said Thursday afternoon.

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Power came back on at the library Wednesday morning at abut 8 a.m. and many residents are coming in to charge their electronic devices, laptops, cellphones, play a couple of games and yes, even to check out a book or a DVD.

“Some people have ways of getting around the cable thing,” assistant library director Cathy Sagevick said.

Find out what's happening in Mineolawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The library is currently waving fines due to their internal system being down, but will take stock one it is restored. The outage has also affected the library’s internet connection, so it is unable to offer wifi or internet access from its computer stations. However, the library has set out numerous power strips for residents to plug in.

Events for children are also being rescheduled earlier, with an Angry Birds-related activity being held that day and a cupcake-bake workshop moved ahead of schedule as well.

“We’re trying to go through as many regularly scheduled things as we can,” Sagevick said.

The library recently extended its open hours not to long ago, staying open until 9 p.m. Thursday. Friday the library will be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Saturday they will open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We’ve never been more popular than we are now,” Sagevick said.


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