Community

Familiar face of Riverhead Free Library retires

Segal retirement in Riverhead
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Corky Segal received this purple cowgirl hat as a retirement gift Friday. Here she poses with her husband, Mickey Segal, who has worn his cowboy hat for many years but has never been on a horse in his life. They both turned 85 on Thursday.

Corinne (Corky) Segal has sat at the guest reception desk at Riverhead Free Library for 27 years, serving as a circulation clerk.

Her work that began in the 1980s came to a close Friday. But first, she was recognized at a retirement party in her honor.

She was mostly roasted during the event by circulation director Liz Stokes, who told stories of Ms. Segal’s fast driving, complete with anecdotes of getting out of speeding tickets, in one case by telling a police officer “I changed your diapers.”

After once receiving a ticket, she later told a judge, “Your mother and I were in the delivery room together.”

The ticket was promptly dismissed.

As a gift, Ms. Stokes gave her a poster size speed limit sign that reads: “Speed Limit 35 mph” and then “Except for Segal Family.”

Ms. Segal summed up her many years at the library as so: “It’s a second family. They are all so wonderful. They are always there for me.”

“Corky taught us to give with your heart,” Ms. Stokes said.

“She is Riverhead Free Library.”

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