Renovation of Oceanside Library is nearly done

The Oceanside Library at 80 Davison Avenue, which has been undergoing a major overhaul since 2022, is nearing completion and is scheduled to reopen to the public in September, boasting many new community rooms and innovations, as well as upgraded security.

The completed project will be 48,000 square feet, an extra 16,000 square feet worth of additional space compared to the original library’s 32,000.

Once inside, library patrons will see a completely transformed space, featuring a cafe area in which they could work and socialize, library administrators said. The renovated library will also provide two elevators, an upgrade from the single, low-occupancy elevator it previously offered.

The renovations include the addition of different community rooms such as a 165-seat theater with a control room and multiple cameras for live-streaming events, such as lectures, movies, plays and concerts.

The library has also added a teaching kitchen that can be used for both cooking and art classes, as well as a STEM lab for local science, technology, math and engineering programs.

In an added bid to bring the library into the future, rooms have been set aside dedicated to making Zoom and video calls and recording podcasts. Several other rooms, with no designated purpose, can be booked for meetings and classes.

The upper floor of the new building has been reserved for kids, with shortened stacks that allow children to reach all the books they need to, as well as permit parents and guardians to keep an eye on their children at all times. The second floor also has a dedicated “teen area,” complete with gaming systems and gaming chairs.

During the construction process, the library moved to their temporary location at the Great Lincoln Shopping Center. The adult and teen space is located at 56 Atlantic Avenue, and the children’s space at 26 Atlantic Avenue. Despite having to change locations, there are no books in storage and according to Assistant Director Tony Ionvino, circulation is higher now than it was before Covid. For larger programs like concerts and movie viewings, they even rented space at the Oceanside Jewish Center, Veterans of Foreign Wars building, and Knights of Columbus.

“We were able to provide pretty full services to the public during the construction,” Iovino said.

A major concern for the library has been security, which has led to the installation of hundreds of cameras throughout the building.

“We can see everything,” Tony Iovino, the library’s assistant director, said. “We also have panic locks on all of the access doors. We tried to make the place as safe as we possibly can while still being an open public area.”

In addition, the library has effectively doubled the size of the parking lot and added electric vehicle-charging stations.

However, among all the changes, one of the first things guests will notice when entering the new library is that the front lobby area is open 24 hours a day and can be entered with patrons swiping their library card. This allows them to return books, as well as pick up reserved materials at any time from the newly installed pickup lockers. The main entrance has also been moved from the center of the building to the side, for the convenience of visitors.

According to Iovino, many of the ideas implemented are the brainchild of 26 focus groups held in 2019 when the project was in its infancy.

“Sometimes it was a matter of giving us a new idea,” Iovino said. “Sometimes it was a matter of telling us that an idea that we had wasn’t going to work. And a lot of times it was, ‘You’re on the right track, we’d like that.’”

Funding for the library’s overhaul came from a $33.5 million bond approved by voters in June of 2020, which saw the average Oceanside homeowner’s annual library tax increase by $140 for a total of $454 per year, the bond itself costing approximately 1.8 million per year. But since then, Iovino added, there hasn’t been a single tax increase. All of the library’s spending for this project is available on the Oceanside Vision 2020 website, including monthly updates and copies of checks.

Library administrators and their staff are extremely excited to share all of the new features the library has to offer. Both Iovino and Chris Marra, the library’s director, acknowledged the valuable support for the project from the Oceanside community. When the library reopens, they hope it will become a hub for the town to hold club meetings, events, and much more.

“We cannot thank the community enough, as well as all the patrons that use our services,” Marra said.