Carnegie Library Foundation To Be Ready In Four Weeks

After an eventful year, the Carnegie Library should get to settle into its new permanent location on the Sixth District Court property in Patchogue Village in June.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new foundation took place on the 150 W Main Street property Tuesday afternoon.

Joseph Hoerning, owner and president of the SJ Hoerning Construction Inc. that was recently awarded a $188,000 bid to build the foundation, estimates that the foundation will be ready for the building to be moved onto it in four weeks.

Once it's ready, the Patchogue-Medford Library will be moving their Young Adult department inside.

During a press conference at the groundbreaking, the Patchogue-Medford Library's executive director Dina McNeece-Chrils said that the library originally leaving the building in 1981 was about needing more space, and the return to the building today is about needing even more.

"We're going to put our Young Adult department in that building, and the library board and myself and the assistant director have this vision of this library not only filled with books and materials and computers but filled with young people," McNeece-Chrils said. "And that was one of Andrew Carnegie's dreams and visions as well."

McNeece-Chrils said the library plans to restore it both on the outside and the inside to its "1908 glory" and hopes to work with the Greater Patchogue Historical Society as well.

The library has announced their intentions to pay for the construction of a full basement built under the library to preserve its structural integrity.

The library itself will be positioned next to the Sixth District Court building and will reportedly face toward Main Street.

What are your thoughts on the Carnegie Library's upcoming move onto a permanent location? Add them in the comments below. Photos from the conference are in the media gallery above. Check back to Patch for video from the press conference.