Rye Free Reading Room Technology Center Open for Business

Shhhh! 

Be quiet because this is a Rye library story, albeit a tale about surfing Google, posting on Twitter and Facebook pages, job searches, freebies, local characters and a last hurrah.

All of which is to say the new Rye Free Reading Room Technology Center has opened, although not yet officially.

Major renovations –starting in early June –are all but complete.

The final touch will come with the hook up of the new Plasma TV screen that looks down on 12 computers artfully re-arranged in a reconfigured room that has new cabinetry, lighting, air-conditioning, carpeting, printers and more.

The center's grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 19 from 12 to 2 p.m., to be followed by a family concert on the Village Green from 2 to 4 p.m., according to Debra Julian, president of the library's Board of Trustees, and Maria Lagonia, managing librarian as well as the library's acting director.

Lagonia has assumed the duties of former director Kurt Hadeler, who took a similar position closer to his New Jersey home at the end of July.

One of Hadeler's last official acts prior to his departure was coming in early to supervise the construction project as well as the computer hook-ups as the center's renovation neared completion in late July.

The new center was funded entirely through private donations and New York Library Construction grants, according to Julian and Lagonia.

It also took a lot of tender love and care, they said.

The new center took money and lots of it. Nicholas and Christina Raho, for whom the technology center is named, supplied much of that undisclosed sum.

Nicholas Raho made the donation in the name of his beloved late wife, who had a special place in her heart for the Rye Free Reading Room, according to library officials.

They also had previously helped substantially underwrite the restoration costs of the library's children's room, which was extensively damaged during the flooding that took place during the heavy rains in 2007 when the Blind Brook overflowed.

As it turned out, the new library wing had been built on a flood plain. Then library director Betty Teoman, hired from the Los Angeles library system several years earlier, had just left Rye for a new job in Palm Springs, California, shortly before that flooding happened.

Hadeler was brought in from the White Plains Library System after an extensive search similar to the one now going on to replace him, a search that is expected to take around six months.

Hadeler began taking the first steps towards realizing the library's goals of revitalizing adult spaces throughout the library, including substantially building  the movie DVD collection in a new space and enhancing core services, while also restoring the flooded children's room.

As a kind of last hurrah, Hadeler worked tirelessly as the library's technology center underwent a major renovation that began in early June, which resulted in the public computers being temporarily relocated to the front of the library. The dozen computers were anchored on a kind of circular-shaped table that proved to be tight quarters for computer users.

Other changes during the approximately month-long construction phase ranged from reference and teen books being moved into the teen room to magazines and newspapers being stored in a staff workroom, accessible upon request.

During that phase, construction crews worked during the early morning to minimize disruptions while the library was open.

The Raho's funding helped make much of that work possible and the library has paid homage to them by placing their names on a plaque at the entrance of the center. Their generosity places their name in the pantheon of library greats such as the legendary "Miss Bird," first name Doris, who worked in the children's room for more than 25 years, and the aptly-named Jean Read, the library's director for more than 25 years.

The new technology center had a soft opening without any fanfare, but with praise from patrons during the last week of July. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing at the start.

The air conditioners leaked on the first day. The printers didn't always work. And one of the library's characters –nicknamed "The Weazel, " a regular who runs his business utilizing the library's free computers, tried to reboot the computer he works on so his time would never run out. 

That was his bid to circumvent the rule that says computer users are restricted to one hour on a first-come, first-served sign-in basis, usually monitored by the librarians. "The Weazel" was reprimanded and everything has been running smoothly ever since.

During frequent library drop-bys, this Patch writer spoke to regular computer users, ranging from a recently down-sized Wall Street executive who waited his turn on the computers to conduct job searches to a downsized clerical worker who has been working as a "temp" during the ongoing economic downturn. Both requested anonymity, but stressed they were grateful for the free access to the computers.

Other regular computer users included youngsters playing computer games and making Facebook entries alongside those using Twitter; a drummer and sports aficionado who collects professional athlete autographs reading about his heroes' latest exploits; and a Beatles fanatic who uses the library to continue his ongoing research on that legendary music group.

There's also a self-published writer delving into sources for future books, a retired former pro-hockey star who researched executive National Hockey League positions and landed a job that way, and someone with a chronic disease that has him making burping sounds  during his regular computer stints.

The computers stretch across three tables, four computers to a table at widely- spaced  intervals, with the tables lined up neatly in a row. A random survey of computer users turned up the following responses about the new technology center, all favorable:

"I love using the new technology center with my kids," said Rye Brook resident Nancy Tartaglia. "It's cleaner, more beautiful, better organized and more spacious so that you don't keep bumping into the tables' rough edges the way you used to in the old days."

"It's more roomy," said Rye student Frannie Ettari. "You're not as close to the person next to you."

"It's a great improvement over what it used to be," added Harrison resident Novella Adove. "The technology is better, and it shows the library is keeping abreast of the latest technological improvements and is not afraid to spend money on those improvements so we don't have to go to a major library like White Plains to use their computer and reference set up."

"I especially like the new configuration; there's a better utilization of space," said Barbara deFrondeville, a Rye resident.

"The new technology center has the computers right where they belong, in libraries and research centers, not in classrooms where studies show they cut down on student-teacher interaction, the ability to concentrate and learn, and classroom socialization," said her husband, Bertrand deFrondeville, a frequent critic of the Rye City School District.

Rye Brook's Ms. Lagonia, a knowledgeable 15-year library veteran, who knows the territory and is ultra- popular with the staff as well as regular library users, sees the new center as a valuable teaching tool. She said classes on how to use the computers–from technology ABCs to learning how to use Google—are on the library's  upcoming  agenda.

As part of the long-range planning currently underway, Ms. Julian has asked regular library users to participate in surveys on how to best use the computers and new plasma TV.

The library is also gathering information and suggestions about how it can best meet community expectations.