The Great Neck Library hosted a Meet the Candidates night on Monday, moderated by the League of Women Voters of Port Washington and Manhasset, to allow the community to hear from those vying for the contested library board trustee seat currently held by trustee Scott Sontag.
The election is set for Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The two spots open for the nominating committee are uncontested and not included in the event.
The candidates in the running include Aliza Reicher, Sara Rivka Khodadadian, Chayim Mahgerefteh, and the incumbent Sontag. Mahgerefteh was unable to attend the event and had requested the league reschedule it, which they did not accommodate. He also asked for a statement to be read on his behalf, which was not.
Reicher, who has been a resident of Great Neck for five years, she said in her opening statement she intends to safeguard the library’s role in the community. She emphasized the importance of public libraries as crucial spaces for community engagement, collaboration, and guarding against censorship.
“I’m here today because not only is Great Neck Library important but all public libraries are on the forefront of engaging with the community, fostering collaboration and guarding against censorship,” Reicher said, “Those are my values. We owe it to our diverse community to have a library filled with complete and diverse resources and programs.”
Sontag, born and raised in Great Neck, said he has a deep personal connection to the library and spent his childhood there.
As a parent of four children, he expressed his motivation for seeking reelection and his dedication to improving the library’s services, technology, outreach, and goal of making the library number one in the state.
“I really do care about our library and this is my prime motivation for running for reelection,” Sontag said.
Khodadadian, who started attending board meetings as a college student during the COVID-19 pandemic, voiced the disillusionment she observed among the community with the current board.
She underscored her priorities, including competitive salaries for staff and financial responsibility while retaining staff.
“A few weeks ago at a board meeting a sitting trustee shouted at the director because he was frustrated,” Khodadadian said. “That is not normal.”
Sontag said contracts were recently renegotiated and that, “the staff here, I appreciate them, and we’ve done a lot for them. They do have new contracts already.”
Sontag, who works in technology, said during his tenure on the board he’s made enhancements to the STEM lab, offering 3D printing and modeling courses. He said he was committed to retaining staff and reaching out to underprivileged members of the community.
Reicher, a bankruptcy lawyer, stressed the importance of financial responsibility. She proposed that the library should scrutinize its budget and explore ways to manage costs.
Khodadadian described herself as an “enthusiastic patron of the library” and said she gained valuable communications skills from working in the Village of Great Neck and for a state assemblywoman in Queens doing constituent casework.
All the candidates expressed their opposition to censorship and the importance of defending against it. They stressed that decisions about book selection should be made by library professionals.
“Book banning here is not going to happen,” Sontag said, “the ALA guidelines that our librarians follow and are well defended, we as a board are not supposed to make those choices for books, it’s up to the staff here.”
He said laws have been changing and there is a real fight, but it no banning will happen at the library.
Sontag said the library’s adherence to the American Library Association guidelines meant that the board does not make decisions about book selection; that responsibility falls on the library staff.
Khodadadian said book banning is “part of a larger topic, you are mentioning that people seem to think that since some books offend them, we should take them off the shelves for everyone. I never fully understood that concept. If you come across a book that offends you, that’s totally fine. No one will ever force you to get a certain book.”
She likened it to going to a grocery store as a vegan and choosing not to get meat even though the products are available.
Reicher referenced the library bylaws, saying “It’s part of the board’s job to defend against censorship along with the library, the library staff, and I think that that’s really important, you have to be an ally against censorship, which I am in the strongest possible terms.”
She said that no one group should be able to decide what everyone reads and that “I’m against removing anything that the librarians have deemed appropriate for the library.”
All candidates reiterated their commitment to attending every board meeting unless prevented by illness or travel, stating they are dedicated to the responsibilities of a library trustee.
