What's Happening in Westbury, NY…

The months of November and December will be even quieter than usual at the Westbury Memorial Library, and for good reason.

The library has decided not to schedule any programming during those months while one area of it undergoes a very important renovation. After 20 years of use from the community, the bathrooms in the library are finally getting a makeover. According to Cathleen Merenda, the Library Director, they regularly received complaints from patrons about the state of the restrooms.

On top of being generally worn out, the bathrooms also were not handicap accessible or Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

Thanks to grants from two sources, the library's facilities are scheduled to get an overhaul over the next two months. Legislators from Nassau County, Laura Schaefer and Siela Bynoe, worked with the library to help it get a Community Redevelopment Fund grant for $50,000. The New York State Dormitory Authority also chipped in $54,000 to renew the lavatories.

The library could use flyer printing to let patrons know of the bathroom's closures and to direct them to the open facilities in the children's area of the library and in the staff area. While programming is suspended for the next two months, the library will remain open during the renovations.

When it reopens in January, there will be three unisex bathrooms. A changing table will be in one of them and all three will be handicap accessible.