There’s a tweet that has gone viral in recent years that defines libraries as “one of the few public spaces left in our society where you’re allowed to exist without the expectation of spending money.” Narrow that down to indoor public spaces, and they have almost no competition.
In our ongoing coverage of leadership transitions and other big news from various local libraries, HV1 has been reminded repeatedly that the role of these institutions has changed significantly in the Digital Age. It’s not that they’re being used less as people get more of their information online, but that they’re being used differently: for live readings, lectures and workshops, clubs and activities, movies and records and audiobooks, high-speed Internet access, researching college prospects and employment opportunities, getting help with applying to government programs, learning languages and computer skills and so much more. Librarians today need to be highly tech-savvy.
Neighbors gather at their local libraries to knit together, practice playing a musical instrument in a group at a slow tempo, swap heirloom seeds, borrow a tool that they only need occasionally, get small appliances repaired. In some towns, you can even “borrow” a person with deep experience to tell you their life story. And since COVID forced libraries to go virtual for a time, more of their programs and services are now accessible from home. Taking out physical books is merely the tip of the iceberg nowadays.
The more one learns about the breadth of resources that libraries provide their communities without a fee, the more perplexing it becomes to get one’s brain around the idea that some people oppose them – or at least oppose any of their expenses being funded by tax monies. And yet, that seems to be the case. In our region, recent protracted battles over the Woodstock Library’s moving plans have now been joined by the Rosendale Library’s efforts to find an alternative to its cramped space in a former church. In both cases, the citizens who question whether the proposed new venue is better or worse have been joined by voices crying, “Why should I have to help pay for a library at all?” Signs are already popping up in front yards in Rosendale decrying the proposed move. One commenter on the Rosendale Discovered Facebook group, using the anonymous handle PrincessPuff FluffyPantaloons, posted, “I have never used it and my taxes are high enough already.”
Paying taxes is never a popular activity, of course. But some things that we collectively fund through our taxes offer more concrete and immediate payback than, say, nuclear weapons, and it’s tough to deny that libraries are among them. Libraries have been described as socialism in its purest, most benign manifestation: a selling point for some, a flashpoint for others. That characterization certainly didn’t deter steel and railroad baron Andrew Carnegie (a bastion of capitalism if there ever was one) from feeling that he owed so much of his financial success to access to a free library in his penniless youth in Scotland that he made building hundreds of libraries across America the primary focus of his philanthropy in later life.
Carnegie did not, however, endow the libraries he constructed with operating funds; that was the ongoing responsibility of each community that benefited from his largesse. With this tycoon’s transformative campaign as a model, one might also argue that libraries represent free enterprise in its purest form, whose profits are difficult to quantify but accrue to the entire community. Most towns recognize this broad social value and voluntarily contribute to their local library’s budget on an annual basis, while the library’s Board of Directors, staff and/or “Friends” group are tasked with coming up with the bulk of the funding.
While keeping a library running day-to-day is a challenge in any small town, replacing an outgrown space requires a massive capital campaign and a critical mass of goodwill among the local population, including civic leaders. Gardiner experienced these growing pains in the 2000-aughts and Highland in the 20-teens. In the case of Rosendale, the need for expansion of the Library building at 264 Main Street has been brewing for a long time. Incoming director Katie Scott-Childress optimized pandemic downtime by renovating the space to the fullest extent possible within its 20-by-40-foot limitations (https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2021/05/21/rosendale-library-retools-for-the-future-with-new-director-katie-scott-childress), but the historic structure – built in 1875 by the Snyder family for cement industry workers as All Saints Episcopal Chapel – is simply too small to accommodate the needs of Library patrons and staff. The Library counted 23,000 visits from patrons last year.
“Unlike nearly all public libraries, the Rosendale Library does not have a children’s room – it is essentially a one-room library. In addition, the Library has one toilet, which often has a line as groups of people come for programs and stay for a couple of hours,” Scott-Childress posted on the Library website (https://rosendalelibrary.org). “The most challenging part of the current Library location is the lack of parking. The parking lot of eight spaces, and one handicap space, fills up with every meeting or program, and people are forced to park on the shoulder of Central Avenue.” Lot-line setback restrictions on the small, oddly shaped parcel, as well as the building’s protected status on both the state and national Registers of Historic Places, make it difficult to bump out a wall to expand the structure, and a landscape engineering study could only identify two to three possible additional parking spaces.
Finding an alternative space to house the Rosendale Library that would still be walkable from downtown seemed an insurmountable problem until recently, when the Belltower Venue at 398 Main Street was put up for sale by Louis Sclafani, who has owned the building since 1985. A sculptor of art glass, Sclafani originally used the 2,500-square-foot space (also a former church, located across the alley from the Rosendale Theatre and the Big Cheese) as a glassblowing studio, and turned it into an events venue in 2012. The list price is $1.5 million, but Sclafani has reportedly expressed a willingness to negotiate more favorable terms if the building could be converted to public use as a library. The first phase of renovations plus furnishing are estimated to bear an additional pricetag of $182,000. The Belltower building also includes several rental units that generate $43,000 in annual income, according to Scott-Childress.
Encouraged by this news, the Board of Directors and staff began researching opportunities for grant funding and low-interest loans. They identified several promising sources, including the New York State Aid for Library Construction program and Empire State Development Grants, supplemented by a 3.75 percent loan from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development Fund. Part of the application process for the two grants involved obtaining letters of support from local governments, and the Library was able to obtain these from the County executive, State senator, assemblyman and Congressional representative.
Getting the Town of Rosendale to sign on proved to be another matter. Scott-Childress gave a presentation at the December 14 Town Board meeting, requesting a letter of support in time to make a grant deadline by the end of the month. She also asked the Town to commit to provide financial support for the project in the form of the 20 percent local match typically required by federal and state government funders. Benefits cited to the Town if the project went through, besides expanded public programming, included establishment of a Community Room in the rear of the Belltower building and the provision of Wi-Fi access to users of Willow Kiln Park and the Farmers’ Market at the rear of the municipal parking lot behind the Theatre.
It did not go well for the Library. The Board refused to provide the letter of support without seeing a full feasibility study with prices for all the moving parts, which are many. For example, Scott-Childress said that the Library would prefer to sell off the former parsonage building that is attached by a breezeway to the Belltower, but she had not yet confirmed with the Planning Board that such a subdivision can be granted. It’s also unclear as yet whether the Library could sell its existing building at an estimated price of $600,000 and apply that money toward paying off any loans.
According to the deed from the donation of the former church to the Rosendale Library Association in 1959 by Andrew J. Snyder, if it’s no longer used as a Library, ownership of the building is supposed to revert to the Reformed Church of America. Scott-Childress said that the Reformed Church had voted to waive that right, but legal documents were not yet finalized. Rental of the space to a third party may also be an option, but the math is complicated by the fact that the Rosendale Library is a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization. It’s a bit of a Catch-22 situation overall, since it’s difficult to nail down final numbers before the grants and loans are approved, and impossible to secure the grants without the Town’s blessing.
According to the minutes from the Town Board meeting, opposition to the Library’s requests stemmed primarily from one councilman, Joseph Havranek, and the unelected deputy Town supervisor, Ken Hassett. Both cited the need to keep a tight rein on the Town’s pursestrings and prevent any tax increases. Havranek voiced “concerns with wanting to see the programs they are running,” raising the specter – alarming in these times of book-banning in some parts of the US – of possible local government interference in Library activities if Town funding support were to be approved.
The main sticking point, apparently, was disagreement over whether or not the Library was allowed to apply for the loan without a bond resolution by the Town in place. Town supervisor Jeanne Walsh maintained that it was not. Hassett reacted negatively to Scott-Childress’ statement that a low-interest loan from USDA is not the same thing as a bond and would not require a referendum. “Deputy Supervisor Hassett said he was very surprised that there wouldn’t be a vote and it seems as if this is taking shape behind the scenes,” the minutes read. “He said in Rosendale they like to be a part of what is being built and have a say and it’s disingenuous saying they don’t require a public vote.”
Scott-Childress responded that the Library had surveyed its constituents’ opinions on what they wanted from the Library going forward, that it was reaching out to the wider community by presenting its case at the Board meeting and that she had no objection to a public vote, but believed it unnecessary under the terms of the loan contract. Walsh disagreed with the latter, and also echoed Havranek’s question about programming. Scott-Childress pointed out that detailed information on the Library’s programming is mailed to Rosendale residents on a monthly basis.
Ultimately, citing concerns about the $10 million debt that Rosendale is already incurring for a new water tower and replacement of the sewer plant, Supervisor Walsh asked Scott-Childress to find other ways to fund the Library move that would not burden Rosendale taxpayers. So, last week the Library posted a notice announcing that that it was dropping the Belltower initiative.
“Last night the Library Board of Trustees decided not to move forward with this purchase. Lacking a letter of support from the Town Board, we are unable to obtain the USDA low-interest loan that we anticipated would help finance the project. We have applied for and had planned to apply for grants that would have, we estimated, made the move a tax-neutral proposition. But without a low-interest loan, we simply cannot move forward,” it read in part. “We are disappointed to share this news. If you would like to support the Library improving its facilities at some point in the future, please be in touch; we will need your support.”
Asked to comment on the announcement, Supervisor Walsh told HV1 that she is “very concerned and insulted by the misinformation that has been circulating by the Rosendale Library. The Library came to the Town Board to ask for support for two grants and a loan from the USDA. After some research and after speaking with our Bond Council, we discovered the Library must bond through the Town Board and must put the bond to a public vote. The director stated several times she did not want to go to a public vote and ignored our Bond Council’s advice. I tried to counsel the director to hold off applying till they had more information and got the public support (which is required). This is stated in the code for the Library. The Town Board could not write a letter of support without these things in place. It is very misleading to blame the Town Board for their failure to get the funds. I will support the purchase of the Belltower if they put it to a public vote and the vote is Yes.” Whether the building will still be available for sale by the time a referendum can be held is another question.
Meanwhile, the Rosendale Library is regrouping. In its ongoing quest to find a new space, it has scheduled “listening sessions in order to learn what patrons envision for the Library facility. The Library Board wants to explore all possibilities before deciding on next steps.” Those public sessions are scheduled for Thursday, February 16 at 5:30 p.m., Monday, February 20 at 3 p.m. and Monday, February 20 at 6 p.m.
For more food for thought on the undiminished value of libraries to contemporary society, check out Neil Gaiman’s eloquent 2013 lecture at the Reading Agency in London: www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming.
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