The Massapequa public library has announced that after 48 years the bookmobile will be retired. Its final trip through Massapequa will be made the last week in July. According to library officials, the cost of needed repairs or its replacement outweighs the modest num­bers of bibliophiles it services.

"The board has decided to retire the trailer for safe­ty reasons," explained library director Patricia Page. "There are structural problems because of rust and it won't pass inspection. Combined with its electrical problems, it would cost an inordinate amount of mon­ey to fix." It's the end of an era for some locals who grew up visiting the trailer - the last of its kind on Long Island.

"I remember as a child, looking forward to Friday af­ternoons so I could walk to the bookmobile and pick out books without having to wait for my mother to drive me to the library," said Jeanette Walsh of Mass­apequa. "It is a part of the fabric of our community and I am both sad and disappointed." "I heard about this like everyone else, word of mouth," said 17-year resident and patron Terry McKenna. "There was no notice that they were even thinking about retiring it...maybe we could have done fund-raisers and saved it."

Plans for its retirement were not made public until a board meeting this week, a month after the library budget vote. "It's startling that a group of elected officials did not avail themselves of the practice of pre-planning," said Arlene Martin who had attended the meeting. "It didn't fall into disrepair overnight. Looking ahead ten or fifteen years ago to a replacement would have resulted in very little difference in the library rate of tax for the taxpayers and would have prepared for its eventual replacement." "The week our budget went to press we were told that the bookmobile driver was shocked when he plugged in the power," said president of the Mass­apequa library board, Rosemary Gensler. "It's really unsafe and combined with the economy right now, it would be extremely unwise to save it and have a huge tax increase." According to Page, the exact cost of repair for the library on wheels was not pursued because times have changed and very few patrons actually use it. When it was purchased in 1961, it cost $13,000; replacement in 2009 would be $200,000 for a basic model and about $550,000 as it is now. "We understand why people love it but we want them to know that we never intended on replacing it," said Page. "Thisbookmobile was utilized back when par­ents stayed home during the day and had no cars. Plus, it was used much more because the Bar Harbor Library (in Massapequa Park) had not been built yet." Out of the six employees that work on the trailer, one was full-time. That librarian will continue to work in the Bar Harbor library according to Page.

"I'll not only miss seeing that big trailer on Wednes­day afternoons and its wonderful convenience but the ladies that worked there who made visiting such a pleasure," added Walsh. "We want the bookmobile patrons to know that we will continue to offer them assistance with our home­bound service if they are unable to make it to one of our library branches," added Page.

"This wasn't a decision we took lightly and we're sor­ry," added Gensler.

"Please don't think that the bookmobile will be 'go­ing quietly into the night'," said former Massapequa school board member Martin. "Taxpayers will ques­tion the actions of the library board."