by David Flint
Stephentown residents get to vote in March on whether they want to set up a Special Legislative District for the Stephentown Memorial Library. The Library is currently an Association library, basically a non-profit private enterprise. As a Special Legislative District public library its budget would be directly funded by tax dollars approved by a Town vote, similar to the way the Fire District is funded. Town residents would elect the trustees and vote on any budget increase. Budget increases would also be subject to the 2% State cap requiring 60% of the voters to override.
[private]The Library Board recently sent out a letter to residents announcing the vote to be held on Tuesday, March 19, at the Library from 7 7 am to 8 pm. A public information meeting on this proposition will be held on Thursday, February 21, coinciding with the Library’s Annual Meeting.
Initially the annual budget as proposed would be $125,000. The current budget is about $83,000 with about 51% of that coming from an annual grant from the Town. The Town is not required to provide that funding but does so as a contract in exchange for services rendered to Town residents. Presumably that funding – $42,500 currently – would cease if the Legislative District is approved by voters. If the Town funding ceases, the cost from the Library District to a taxpayer owning a $150,000 house (assessed at $44,850) would amount to $1.06 per $1,000 of assessed value or $47 per year.
Library Board President Sue Brisette Cass said that the Board over the last five years has explored different options for providing stable funding for the Library and determined that the Special Legislative District was the right one for Stephentown. The proposed budget, with a $42,000 increase over the current one, would provide especially for adequate compensation for staff. The Library Director, Cass said, is now being paid for a half time job but has actually been working full time hours. Her salary would increase from $22,000 to $45,000, which is still well below the average $54,000 for a Director with a Masters Degree in information science. Other staff, about five persons currently, will have their pay adjusted from $8.25 per hour to about $10 hourly.
The additional stable funding will also enable the Library to be open a few more hours in the mornings and a couple more hours on at least two evenings in the week. The budget for the collection will also be increased slightly, and there will be more money for E-books and other online offerings and databases. Ongoing maintenance problems could also be addressed in a more methodical, rational way with money in the budget.
Cass said the Library will continue to do some fundraising to supplement the budget for special programs but it would be less hectic and they would not have to continually be asking professional grant writers with Masters Degrees among the staff and volunteers to take time out to bake cookies. Cass said the Board and volunteers cannot sustain indefinitely the level of funding that it takes to operate the Library at the level it has been operating since the building expansion was completed five years ago. The physical expansion allowed for expansion of collection and programs and many more people have been using the Library since then – both circulation and cardholders are up by 30% – but funding has not kept pace. The alternative to adequate and stable funding, Cass said, is to reduce hours, programs, books and staff.
A vote of membership, about 40 persons, attending the 2008 Annual meeting was unanimous that the Board should proceed in the direction of the Legislative District. The Board then approached the Town Board with the idea and asked its support in allowing a vote by Town residents. The Town Board did not endorse the idea of a SLD but sent a letter to State legislators in support of giving residents the opportunity to vote on it. Assemblyman Tony Jordan later introduced the necessary legislation which passed and was signed by the Governor last year. There are at least three libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System that operate as a Special Legislative District, including Troy, East Greenbush and North Greenbush. Voters in Brunswick in September 2010 rejected a tax supported library by a vote of 404 to 287.
If the vote in Stephentown is favorable, a new 7 member Board of Trustees, elected at the same time, will replace the current 11 member Board. Any registered voter who has lived in Stephentown for at least one year prior to the election may run for a seat. An election petition signed by at least 50 registered voters living in Stephentown must be submitted to the Secretary of the Library Board by February 17. Petitions are available at the Library or online at Stephentownlibrary.org.[/private]