SEA BRIGHT — Ten years after it opened, the borough library is about to undergo a makeover, and the benefactor who made its construction possible is about to be honored.
Councilman Andrew Mencinsky reported at the Sept. 17 Borough Council meeting that a planner had been hired to reorganize the space in the library so as to make better use of it. He said one benefactor already had contributed $1,000 toward the cost of hiring the planner.
Mencinsky also announced that Jay Ross, a Monmouth Beach philanthropist who financed the building of the library, would be honored at a dinner-dance being held Nov. 9 at the Driftwood Beach Club to celebrate the library’s 10th anniversary. The affair, which costs $75 per person, also is a fund-raiser.
After the meeting, Mencinsky said the space planner was Susan Globus of Globus Design Associates, Red Bank. He said she was being paid $2,000.
Asked who the benefactor was who had contributed the $1,000 to pay for the initial cost of the planner, he said it was Ross.
Mencinsky, chairman of the council’s Cultural Arts and Library Committee and council liaison with the Community Advisory Committee, said the library was badly in need of updating and a better arrangement of the book and art exhibition space.
"We had a lot of wasted space," he said.
With the new plan, more shelves and a circulation desk can be installed, he said.
"We hope to add more computers for patron use," he added. "We’re also thinking of computerizing the library."
Mencinsky said the improvements will be broken down into phases. Top priority, he said, will be given to getting a circulation desk.
"Phase one is starting right now," he said. "We hope to complete everything by the end of 2003. Now, we have a master plan for the library."