To vote in the trustee election and to vote on the budget you should go to your assigned Library building. According to the Library website, “Residents  of the Smithtown Special Library District are assigned a Library building to vote at based on street address/election district.  ANY resident may vote at ANY of the Library buildings. However, voters who choose not to vote at their assigned building will vote by affidavit ballot.” Click here for more information.

7334 votes were cast for the three seats being contested in the 2021 Board of Trustees election, an unusually high number. Several of the 2021 candidates were backed by Long Island Loud Majority which may have boosted turnout. The turnout for the current election is expected to be somewhere near last years due to the interest generated by earlier this year when the Board of Trustees voted to remove “Pride Month” displays from the Childrens Room.

Library Boards are usually nonpartisan, low turnout, elections but this year local Republican and Conservative party leaders have endorsed candidates although the Democrats have not. Smithtown Democrats did host an informational meeting on Oct.6 which provided candidates the opportunity to address attendees at the Democratic meeting. 

The LGBT Network has endorsed candidates and has a video posted below that explains their position.

“Heads of the Suffolk and Nassau County cooperative library systems, with more than 100 member libraries, said they were unaware of other library board political endorsements. Kevin Verbesey, director of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, and the New York Library Association said political parties had no place in public library governance. “The idea that one group feels the need to have a partisan influence on the local library suggests they may want to limit open access or define what’s right and wrong, rather than let the library be what it’s intended to be, a place where people can make their own decisions,” Verbesey said.” Newsday , Oct. 9, 2022

The Smithtown Library is the largest library system in Suffolk County.  September 2022 during “Pride Month” trustees made a controversial short-sited decision to remove displays in the children’s section that some of the trustees deemed inappropriate for young children. Days later they rescinded the decision and restored the displays. The decision to remove the displays made national news as did the outrage it provoked in residents.  The removal of the displays led to an investigation by the New York State Division of Human Rights.

Statement from The Smithtown Library Board regarding the New York State Division of Human Rights request for information from the Library

The Smithtown Library is in receipt of correspondence from the New York State Division of Human Rights (“The Division”) requesting information from the Library concerning the 48-hour removal of LGBTQ+ displays in the Children’s rooms of the four Library buildings in our Special Library District (Smithtown-Main, Nesconset, Kings Park and Smithtown-Commack).

We are also in receipt of inquiries from Smithtown residents regarding the status of the investigation.

As requested in the appended document, the Library’s staff and legal counsel collaborated to collect the requested records and provide them to the Division in a timely manner.

The Division is continuing its investigation by way of reviewing documents and interviewing Library trustees, along with other related personnel.

Following the completion of the investigation, the Division’s Regional Director will make a determination as to whether to file a formal complaint against the Library (charging the Library with a violation of NYS Human Rights Law in the removal of the display).

The Library has been advised of no timeframe from the Division for the completion of the pending investigation or Regional Director’s determination.

The Smithtown Library understands, appreciates, and respects the role of the Division of Human Rights, and we look forward to demonstrating to the Division, and just as importantly to our community, that The Smithtown Library is in full compliance with New York State Human Rights Law and is committed to following the letter of that law.

Thank you,
The Board of Trustees trustee@smithlib.org