By Pat Biancaniello

Without much fanfare, at 10 am Thursday morning, the Commack Branch of the Smithtown Library opened for business. By 10:15 am the parking lot was almost full.

The library, which first opened in 1967, was closed in January 2010. The unscheduled closing was due to a puff back in the boiler.  During the fifteen months that the library has been closed the interior has been remodeled and updated. A three thousand square foot addition has been added. An entirely new children’s room was developed using fifteen hundred square feet of the new space.

Artist Jeff Fisher was commissioned to paint murals on the walls of the children’s room giving the room a sense of wonder and intrigue.  Everything from the ceiling tiles, carpeting, tables, computers, and the colors, were chosen to allow the children to connect with their surroundings.