Public libraries across the South Fork are taking part in the Great Give Back, a community service initiative of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System that gives patrons an opportunity to participate in service-oriented activities on Saturday, Oct. 17.
In Southampton, the Rogers Memorial Library is making the most of socially distant times by offering teens a chance to explore the website zooniverse.com. The web portal is home to some of the internet's most successful projects driven by citizen science, a data collection and research method that relies on public input and volunteers who make a real difference in academic studies. Those interested in participating can just choose from an assortment of projects to work on and then send the library a writeup about what they chose and why.
The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, meanwhile, is encouraging families to stop by from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday to pick up garbage bags and gloves for a community cleanup. Families can walk the hamlet or a beach and document their trash collection adventures with pictures for the library to post on social media. Prizes will be given out to those who visit the library afterward.
The staff at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor also have a socially distant beach cleanup in mind -- at the village's Havens Beach. Registration is on the library's website. Participants can bring their own supplies, and the library will provide masks, disposable gloves, and garbage bags.
Following suit, the Amagansett Library will hold a beach cleanup, too. It'll start at 9 a.m. at Indian Wells. Kids who want community service hours can give their names at check-in. Bags and gloves will be provided, and the cleanup will be mostly self-run to avoid a crowd, said Evan Harris, the children's librarian. After picking up, the trash will go into the trashcans at the beach.
In addition, the library will use the day to encourage people to drop off nutritious contributions for distribution to the Springs Food Pantry.
The Montauk Library has been collecting items for the Retreat domestic violence shelter, the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, the Montauk Food Pantry, and the Lions Club. That drive ends on Saturday. The library can be reached at 631-668-3377 for details about what to donate.