A Suffolk County library branch slated to shut its doors at the end of 2026, in part due to crime in the area, could now stay open after all. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine says new security measures, including a police substation opening across the street within the week, are aimed at keeping the Mastic Beach branch fully operational.
The Mastic-Moriches-Shirley Community Library board voted unanimously in late October to shut down the satellite branch on Neighborhood Road in Mastic Beach, citing safety for library users and staff, according to Newsday. The closure was set to take effect beginning Dec. 24, with the branch moving into what library officials called a transition period before a planned reopening on March 1. During that transition, the space was to be reserved for scheduled, controlled-access programs such as literacy and citizenship classes rather than traditional services like book lending, the outlet reported.
Those dates are confirmed on the library's own website, which states the Mastic Beach Branch will temporarily close beginning December 24, 2026, and reopen March 1, 2027, for library-run programs, according to the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library. Traditional library services were to remain available in the meantime at the main branch about 2½ miles away in Shirley and at the satellite branch in Moriches, per the same Newsday report.
What Drove the Board's Decision
The vote followed months of police activity around the branch. Suffolk County police reported 45 service calls at the library between 4 p.m. and 4 a.m. from May through September, including 16 disturbance calls, 11 alarm calls, four undefined criminal incidents and two larceny offenses, the station's report noted. Officers also issued 15 summonses for open alcohol containers and made two arrests for criminal possession of a controlled substance during that same stretch, per the same account.
Library officials had already taken a first step weeks before the board vote. On Oct. 21, the library announced adjusted operating hours, citing ongoing safety and security concerns at and around the branch, particularly as daylight hours grew shorter, the article notes. That change preceded the board's unanimous decision less than a week later to discontinue traditional library services at the location.
Officials Push Back With New Security Plan
After the board's vote, Suffolk officials began outlining a counter-plan. Measures are intended to address safety concerns and keep the branch open following the library board's vote to close the location, according to Patch. A temporary police substation is being established to help ensure the community feels safe, with Suffolk County planning to place the substation in a trailer on a county-owned lot across the street from the library within a week.
Romaine said the county has committed extra dollars to repair and improve safety around the library, and that the planned security measures include additional lighting and increased staffing. The county executive vowed to continue working with the library to keep it fully open, saying he will work with the library, the local civic association and community leaders to prioritize safety going forward.
The Decision Still Rests With the Library Board
Despite the county's planned intervention, the future of full library operations at the Mastic Beach branch remains in the hands of the library board. Local police and officials outlined the changes aimed at keeping the community safe and the branch open, but whether those steps are enough to reverse the board's closure vote has not been determined. As reported by ABC7 New York, the branch that was slated to close at the end of 2026 due in part to area crime could now stay open with new security measures in place, though the library board controls whatever comes next.
