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May 29, 2010

Work to begin next week on $5.5 million library in Sea Isle City

Press of Atlantic City

By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, May 28, 2010

Despite a second-floor deck that overlooks the bay, a geothermal heating and cooling system, big glass windows and about 14,000 square feet of real estate, Sea Isle City's newest building will be no McMansion.

It will be a library.

Officials will break ground Tuesday on the Cape May County Library System's $5.5 million branch in Sea Isle City at 48th Street — the site of a former sewage treatment plant.

The construction is part of a plan to build new libraries in two of Cape May County's most affluent municipalities: Sea Isle City and Stone Harbor.

Each of the two municipalities pays about $1.4 million per year in library taxes, for a combined third of the county library system's revenue, Cape May County Library Director Deborah Poillon said Friday.

"They both contribute a good deal of tax dollars to the county library system, and we want to keep them in the system to keep the whole system healthy," Poillon said. "I look at this as an investment."

The decision to build new library branches to replace small buildings in both municipalities came several years after Avalon - the previous highest library-tax contributor — left the county system to build its own library, taking with it a large chunk of revenue.

Minor soil contamination at the library site in Sea Isle had to be remediated before construction could begin, Poillon said.

Cape May County Administrator Stephen O'Connor said the Sea Isle library will be the first county building certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a standard for environmentally friendly construction.

The library will feature solar panels, water-efficient landscaping, recycled materials and a geothermal system that uses the Earth's temperature to help heat and cool the building.

O'Connor said the design is consistent with the county's energy master plan to reduce consumption, costs and pollution.

The new library also will have areas for children and teens, two large meeting rooms and a cafe area for coffee, Poillon said.

Officials expect work to conclude by June 2011.

Meanwhile, the county library system's plan for a beachfront library in Stone Harbor was hampered in 2008 when the state Department of Environmental Protection rejected a Coastal Area Facilities Review Act permit needed for the construction.

O'Connor and Poillon said they are hoping administrative changes under Gov. Chris Christie will help their appeals to build the beachfront library.

The DEP denied a permit in November 2008 because the building did not follow a rule that imposes setback requirements for beachfront development higher than 15 feet.

Contact Brian Ianieri:

609-463-6713

BIanieri@pressofac.com

.

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May 28, 2010

Plainfield Library Director DaRold's quests for outreach and excellence earn him NJ Librarian of Year award

By LAURIE LEVOY • STAFF WRITER • May 27, 2010

PLAINFIELD — For many of the 16 years that Joseph DaRold has shepherded Plainfield Public Library as its director, both its programming and his leadership have earned recognition.

But a few weeks ago, DaRold said he earned what he calls his lifetime achievement award — the New Jersey Library Association's 2010 New Jersey Librarian of the Year Award.
DaRold, 67, remains dedicated to what is his hometown library, too, and continues to percolate ideas about the institution's future.

Describing himself as project-oriented, DaRold's current mission is to complete the facility's Children's Library.
"And keeping us afloat is a major priority, as we've lost $53,000 in state aid and in funding for our databases," DaRold noted.
With the library's circulation surging from 80,000 in 2007 to more than 100,000 in in 2009, maintaining and recruiting financial support is vital.
"I'm fighting to get it restored," DaRold said.

Getting difficult tasks done was one of the reasons cited for Da Rold's recent honor.
"Joe has strength of character and doesn't hesitate to tackle the hard jobs," said Cheryl O'Connor, executive director of INFOLINK, the Eastern New Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, who presented the award to DaRold at the annual New Jersey Library Association conference in Long Branch and was the 2009 Librarian of the Year.

O'Connor has known DaRold since he was hired for the Plainfield position, and has watched his skills grow, allowing him to help the community as well as evolve the library into a repository of sources, resources and services.

Besides the many awards DaRold has received — such as the Nubian Union Excellence in Leadership Award; recognition in 2009 by the Hispanic Cultural Association for his services to the Hispanic Community of New Jersey; selection to have the library participate for free in the national StoryCorpscq oral history program — DaRold also has lead various city commissions and task forces.
A checklist of DaRold's missions accomplished includes:

Returning a building in disrepair to function. Upon accepting the director's post, DaRold had a leaking roof replaced and elevators repaired so they worked every day.

"We had a budget then of just under $1 million. Now it's $1.5 million, and we have to be very creative and efficient with how the dollars are spent," DaRold said.
During the 30 years he lived in California and worked in the library science field doing advanced research projects for Warner Brothers, Da Rold eventually became the director of a small municipal library and served as president of his condominium association.
"That taught me how to operate a budget, go about making repairs, all tasks I handle here," DaRold said.

Partnering The Literacy Volunteers of Union County with Literacy Volunteers of Plainfield Public Library into a thriving cooperative. Since 1992, the Plainfield program has tutored 4,000 people in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); Basic English;cq General Educational Development (GED) tests; U.S. Citizenship test; Basic Math; laptop computer classes; and computer classes taught in Spanish.
"We've supported the literacy project from its beginnings and the program now has its own dedicated space in the library," DaRold added.

Establishing the library's Diversity Studies Collection, now a repository of 20,000 historical images, 50,000 color negatives and Garden Club archives stored in climate-controlled conditions and reflective of city history.

"In 2009, we presented Joe DaRold with our Community Change Award in Education for the collection, which has he has turned into an African-American collection of journals, oral histories and books. It's an initiative that also can be replicated elsewhere," said Clyde Allen, director of the New Jersey Black Issues Convention.

Providing a bank of computer terminals for public Internet access, as well as job research.

Installing a Redbox DVD Center, the first such installation at a public library nationwide.
"The business came to me looking for a trial site," he said. "I immediately said yes and it's been very successful."

The self-enclosed, outdoor self-service DVD rental portal provides DVD rental for $1 a day, every day, and earns the library a quarterly check representing a percentage of the rental proceeds.
Laurie Levoy; 908-243-6614; llevoy@MyCentralJersey.com

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Board rejects South Plainfield libary's plan to move to industrial area

c-n.com

By JEFF GRANT • STAFF WRITER • May 27, 2010

SOUTH PLAINFIELD — The South Plainfield Board of Adjustment has denied the borough's public library a use variance for a site within an industrial park on the south side of town, potentially ending the library's bid to move to the location in order to escape severely overcrowded facilities in the center of the municipality.

The vote Thursday night was unanimous.

"It's just not a good site for a library,'' said board chairman Alex Barletta.

The neighborhood where the library's trustees wanted to relocate the facility includes numerous heavy industrial firms, and the street, Montrose Avenue, has no sidewalks, raising fears of inadequate safety for children. "I don't want that on my conscience,'' Barletta said.

The library, which has been seeking a new location for nearly a decade, can appeal the zoning board's action. But trustee president Eric Aronowitz said no decision would be made until the panel's next meeting on June 8.

"Obviously, we're disappointed,'' Aronowitz said. But he noted that an appeal could take up to a year and involve significant court costs.

Meanwhile, Aronowitz said the library still intends to move, and would have to hope that the borough would investigate other sites if the trustees decide against appealing the board members' rejection of the Montrose Avenue move.
Jeff Grant: 908-243-6612; jgrant@MyCentralJersey.com

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Library cuts should be stopped

http://www.dailyrecord.com
Letters
To the Editor:

I am writing to protest the 74 percent budget cuts proposed for New Jersey's libraries. Libraries provide each town with a wealth of resources for residents, and to cut funding would drastically reduce access to the materials, programs, and information they presently offer.

There would be an end to interlibrary loans. That would mean people would have to travel all over the county to obtain books and other materials their local library does not have, or else, they would have to buy these items, which would be very costly over time. And the unemployed, who make up approximately 10 percent of New Jersey residents, would be losing the ability to research companies because libraries would no longer offer job searching databases. A cut in children's programs would force parents to seek out and pay for children's activities at other facilities. Students would no longer be able to utilize computer resources like EBSCO and Proquest.

The importance of continued funding for New Jersey's libraries cannot be emphasized enough. In a strong democracy, it would be criminal to restrict access of information to only those who could afford it. Libraries are free and open to everyone. Does this make sense for New Jersey?
IDELLE KURSMAN
Rockaway

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May 27, 2010

Next chapter could feature more cuts at Ridgewood Library

Thursday, May 27, 2010
BY JASON BRAFF
The Ridgewood News
STAFF WRITER
Ridgewood Public Library administrators are "mobilizing" patrons and supporters to rally behind their fight against legislative measures they say would deplete resources and eliminate valued programs.

Proposed cuts in the state budget would slash 74 percent of its funding for libraries, which would spell the demise of interlibrary book and media lending and delivery programs, among others. The Ridgewood Library will receive roughly 1 percent of its funding from the state, while the rest comes from the municipal government, but the latter amount could also be reduced if a state Assembly bill that would abolish the minimum amount of municipal funding becomes law.
Chris Yurgelonis, supervising librarian at the Ridgewood Library, said that because the Village Council would not be obligated to give the library a certain amount, it would have the option to cut back. With the budget issues the village already has faced, she said, it might not give the library the financial resources it needs.

"It can mean potential loss of funding to maintain the services we provide now," Yurgelonis said.
Library Director Nancy Greene said that the interlibrary loans bring in about 80,000 books from different towns each year. The library charges customers 25 cents for the service, while the state funds the remaining cost. Other programs that would no longer be funded would include free Web hosting, Internet databases such as RefUSA and EBSCO, and JerseyCat, a virtual catalog and interlibrary loan system funded by the New Jersey State Library.

The state budget cuts and Assembly bill have the Ridgewood Library on the offensive. At every reference desk in the library there are signs that read "Don’t Close the Book on Libraries," which sit next to bright orange cards that patrons can sign and put in a box to be sent to local representatives.
"We’ve been handing one to everyone coming into the library and we’ve been putting them into every book we check out," Yurgelonis said. "People have been reading about it in the papers and overwhelmingly want to help."

Glen Rock resident Jane Hwang goes to both the Glen Rock and Ridgewood libraries several times a month, and said she often drops books off at the opposite location.
"I would hate for any of the services to be gone," said Hwang, a junior at Glen Rock High School. "It’s very convenient to come here and borrow books and be able to return them to other places."
Ho-Ho-Kus Mayor Thomas Randall said he "sometimes" comes to the Ridgewood Library because of its larger selection compared to the smaller Worth-Pinkham Memorial Library in his community. He empathized with the state’s budget situation and hoped the Assembly bill would not be a "blow" to libraries across the state.

"It’s just a matter of how much funding can the people absorb in these difficult times? It’s a tough act to balance," Randall said. "Everyone is making sacrifices. It’s hard for people in public employment and it’s hard for many of our public services and amenities. It’s a shared pain all of us are going through, but when there’s no money, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do."
The Assembly bill, which was introduced by Assemblyman John DiMaio (R-Flemington), would "eliminate the 1/3 of a mill required appropriation for the funding of free municipal libraries, and instead base the annual appropriation on the actual amount deemed necessary for the proper maintenance of the library by the municipal governing body." Currently, 33 cents of every $1,000 of assessed value in a municipality goes toward its library budget. DiMaio believes it should be up to the governing bodies of each municipality to determine how much money is used to fund local libraries because, he said, in a time when budgets for every department are being cut, it is unfair to place a required minimum for any public service.

"The libraries are important and we should support them, but I think the councils and trustees should get together every year and determine what is best for each municipality," DiMaio said. It would be hard to believe that municipalities would not support their libraries through funding, DiMaio said.
In 2010-2011, the Ridgewood Library will receive $2.24 million from the Village Council — a 2 percent decrease from last fiscal year. Because of the decrease, most part-time employees at the library were laid off, Greene said, and anticipated pay raises for other employees were put on hold. The Heritage Project, which is expanding the History Center and Multicultural Services and adding new lighting, technology and furnishings at the library, will not be affected by the recent village cuts and potential state cuts, Greene said, because that project is being completely funded through donations. The library also receives funding from events sponsored by Friends of the Ridgewood Library. Ridgewood is one of a few libraries in the state to have its own privately funded foundation.
Ridgewood resident Corinna Kotrokois said she brings her sons Demetri, 10, and Christopher, 8, to the library often for fun and to do homework, and said she also uses the interlibrary delivery service to get books she can’t find there.

"There are so many budget issues going on between the schools and everything else. It’s unfortunate," she said.
Kotrokois predicted that the village would likely keep funding at similar levels even if the Assembly bill becomes law, because residents have come to expect the library to perform at a certain level.
"A town like this would want [to keep] their services going," Kotrokois said. "You’d hope the state would reconsider and try to find the funds from something."

In the meantime, Greene and Yurgelonis said that patrons of the Ridgewood Library, and any library for that matter, should advocate their opinions to their state representatives about the Assembly bill and budget cuts. They point to links on the library website that connect to other sites with information about how to contact state representatives. The state budget does not have to be finalized until the end of June.

"It’s important that our voices can still be heard," Yurgelonis said. "It’s not too late."
E-mail: braffj@northjersey.com

Ridgewood Public Library administrators are "mobilizing" patrons and supporters to rally behind their fight against legislative measures they say would deplete resources and eliminate valued programs.

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May 26, 2010

Libraries sustain their communities

Trenton Times
Letters to the Editor
May 22, 2010

In Gov. Chris Christie's budget and in proposed legislation A2555, public libraries will take a significant hit in funding that we believe is short-sighted and destructive to our communities. The proposed drastic reduction of up to 75 percent of state aid for some libraries would destroy services offered by them.

Residents of all ages use our libraries routinely to access educational, informational and enjoyable reading materials. In addition, many residents are now using computers at public libraries to search for job opportunities or file electronic job applications. While we understand that the state needs to find ways to save money, taxpayers are getting a tremendous return on their dollar by investing in local libraries. We should not cut funding for such valuable local institutions.

Public libraries are at the heart of many communities and we will not support changes that will destroy their ability to be a necessary resource for families. Our offices have received hundreds of letters, e-mails and phone calls to oppose cuts to library funding, and we agree. We urge local library supporters to continue to tell Gov. Christie that funding for libraries is a wise investment in a local community service and should be maintained.

Linda Greenstein,

Monroe

Wayne DeAngelo,

Hamilton

The writers are Democratic New Jersey Assembly members who represent the 14th District.

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When is enough enough? When we start losing libraries

pressofatlatncicity.com
Letters

Regarding the May 13 article, "Seniors fear bookmobile near the last chapter":

When is enough enough? I say, hitting the budget for our libraries is enough. The taxpayers of New Jersey have made sacrifices beyond what I believe to be fair. We understand times are tough. Cuts must be made. Sacrifices have been placed upon us that have not been popular, such as tax increases, police layoffs and education cuts. None of these are popular choices among New Jersey residents.

Now Gov. Chris Christie wants to attack the library system. I am horrified. Our leaders waste our tax dollars for years, attack and rob the pension funds of the police and teachers, and now begin to shut down every service that state residents have paid for with their tax dollars for years simply to save a buck.

I urge everyone to log onto SaveMyNJLibrary.org and write to your elected official voicing your concern over this potential loss.

PETER VAN NEST

Brigantine

.

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Slashing aid to libraries is a gross injustice to people they serve

pressofatlanticcity.com
Letters

Posted: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 |

Do libraries matter? Now more than ever, they are serving the public. And now, paradoxically, they are threatened by not only ever-rising operating costs, but by a proposed 74 percent cut in New Jersey state funding for libraries.

There are two gross injustices to be considered. First, most other state-funded-entity cuts are nearer to 15 percent. This does not constitute a shared sacrifice. The 74 percent cut will have a dramatic impact, necessitating a slash in services that have been developing in libraries over the past 25 years. The survival of small city libraries, like our Millville Public Library, is placed in jeopardy.

The second gross injustice is the imposition on lower- and middle-income residents, who account for much of the library patronage. The libraries help democratize Internet access to those unable to afford the latest computers and Internet connections. In March, The Associated Press reported a study that shows that a third of Americans, about 77 million people, use public library computers to look for jobs, connect with friends, do their homework and improve their lives. Many job applications and other forms are now required to be filled out online. The computers offered are often not enough - waiting lines are not uncommon. The recession has only increased this need. New books, many if purchased by an individual reader cost between $25 and $35 each, can be borrowed at no cost, and nearly any book out of print can be obtained through the state-funded interlibrary system.

In Cumberland County, our libraries have for years been participating in a regional approach designed to do everything our governor, legislators, freeholders and local governing bodies would expect in tough times. Libraries have been sharing services and doing collective purchasing and loaning of materials whenever possible, instead of duplicating purchases.

Our board implores readers and supporters to contact and encourage the governor and relevant elected officials to reconsider the injustice of a 74 percent cut in state library funding by rolling it back or reducing the percentage of the cut.

ETHAN ARONOFF

Board Member

Millville Public Library

Millville

..

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Mount Laurel Library proposes budget cuts

phillyburbs,com
Ma 25, 2010By: Kristen Coppock
Burlington County Times

The local library has proposed ways to cut its budget by $500,000, but its future to the township is still uncertain.
The Township Council and administration has held ongoing discussions about the possibility of having its library join the Burlington County Library System. The move would remove the service from a 2010 municipal budget that contained a deficit of almost $8 million when it was introduced April 5.

As part of the discussions, the Township Council had asked the library staff to put together a “bare bones” budget that would contain only the items essential to the library’s operation. On Monday, the proposed cuts were presented. They include staff concessions and reductions in services. The library also is looking at ways to increase revenue.

A full article about the library’s budget will appear in tomorrow’s Burlington County Times.

BCT staff writer Kristen Coppock can be reached at (609) 871-8073 or kcoppock@phillyBurbs.com.

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Bridgeton’s library popular with area townships, too

By Letters to the Editor/The News of Cumber...
May 24, 2010, 1:18PM
To the Editor:

Every Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. for the last 5 years, my family has been going religiously to Mrs. Terri Carpenter’s wonderful story time. My children look forward to her books, songs, the dances, the puppets and craft time.

She always creates a special time at the library for my children and they were thrilled to get their own cards this spring. I am also involved with the Friends of the Library Committee, the Save the Library! Committee and support their events. Many of my friends attend the library on a weekly basis for books, research, children’s programming, music events, tickets and more.

Most are not from downtown Bridgeton, but rather the surrounding townships. Perhaps the townships can contribute towards the library, in the name of shared services.

I know many may say, “But the county library is just down the road!” Not the same. In a town where public transit and walking are the first means of transportation for many, making it to the county library is just not that easy. The Bridgeton library is convenient, offers many needed services and is staffed by very helpful librarians. In addition, they do an excellent job of obtaining current titles of books, audio books, movies, plus grants for a huge variety of programming. Practically every time I talk to Terri, she has a new project she’s working on with her teens in the Teen Library Council.

The library is a very important foundation for education in Bridgeton, but not just for the children. If the library staff and the operating hours are greatly cut back, as proposed, there are thousands of whom will not have Internet access for school and learning, won’t have a warm and safe place to do their homework after school, and will not be able to enjoy the library’s new (dry) roof.

So much work went into helping to save the structure — why let it be open only 4 hours a day? Education makes a vast difference in poverty levels — the very big task the county is trying to solve. What kind of message is being sent if a library in walking distance is open only 4 hours a day? Many would be surprised to learn everything the library does for the residents of Bridgeton and beyond.

To the board of directors and town officials: Please reconsider your options for fiscal responsibility in Bridgeton and keep the library open with the current staff. Let them keep their benefits, their hours and their pay. They are a need in the city, not just an accessory that can be discarded.

Stefanie Modri, RN
Upper Deerfield Twp.

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New Jersey Libraries Need Public Support to Fight State's Budget Cuts

nj.com
By Sandra Lee
May 24, 2010, 6:32AM

Libraries face a 74% reduction in funding with Gov. Chris Christie's budget cutsMore than 30,000 protesters rallied in Trenton on Saturday against Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget cuts including educators and state workers. I noticed that New Jersey librarians who also stand to lose a lot with Christie's budget did not seem to participate. Perhaps because representatives of New Jersey libraries facing a 74 percent reduction in in library funding held their own, albeit smaller, protest a few weeks ago they didn't show up this past Saturday.

As a parent who lives in a small town with a small library, I am concerned about the budget's threat to New Jersey libraries and the fact that the libraries don't seem to have as much of a public presence as the state's education system. I take full advantage of the inter-library loan system (if there's a pile of books waiting for pick up, they're usually mine), one of many services that would be in jeopardy if the budget cuts take effect. I am also lucky enough to be able to live near several libraries to participate in various free children's programs - such as storytimes & special performances - but already I'm noticing that some have reduced their offerings due to staffing issues.

Library employees, objecting to the budget, need lots of help from the public. They have created a website called Save My Library where you can read specifics on how the budget cuts and a proposed bill to eliminate minimum funding to libraries will affect their services. The site also provides easy ways to show your support including a way to contact your local legislator. You can also check with your local library on ways to help.

Sandra is the founder of ParenthoodNJ.com, which has articles, tips & helpful links for Garden State parents. The site includes her other blogs, Crafty Corner and Momoirs. She also writes for the New Jersey Moms Blog.

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May 25, 2010

Somerville library study sound-off June 1

c-n.com
May 24, 2010

SOMERVILLE — The public can share their thoughts and concerns on whether the borough library should join the county system during a hearing on June 1.

The Library Review Task Force is one recent example of the borough studying a partnership with Somerset County to save costs and increase efficiencies. The borough is contracting with the county for health department functions and exploring a move to county dispatch.

The upcoming meeting, scheduled so the task force can collect public comment, will be held in the main reading room of the library. Those interested can also submit written comments beforehand to the borough administrator.

No matter the eventual recommendation to the mayor and Borough Council from the task force, officials have pledged to not strike a deal that would close the library facility, which is attached to Borough Hall and at 35 W. End Ave.

Direct borough funding makes up the bulk of the library's finances, according to a March 23 presentation by Borough Clerk/Administrator Kevin Sluka to the task force. The cost to operate the library is expected to climb from $713,705 in 2009 to $751,170 this year.

Employee health benefits are among the cost drivers in the library's budget. The monthly health benefit cost for a family plan, for example, rose from about $845 in 2004 to $1,197 in 2010.
The 86,869 items checked out of the library in 2009 represented the highest number since at least 1999, according to the presentation. Meanwhile, the 63,071 library visits last year were the second lowest annual total between 1999 and 2009.

The library reported 48,731 items in its collection in 2009, down from 57,526 in 2008.
The borough also studied joining the county's network of libraries in 2006. Thirteen towns belong to the county system.

If the library joined the county system, the borough would still own the facility and pay for the utilities and other operating expenses. The county would cover staff, materials and other nonfacility costs.
Municipalities that belong to the county system help fund it through a dedicated library tax. The rate in 2009 ranged from lows of 3.4 cents per $100 dollars of assessed value in Millstone and 3.9 cents per $100 in North Plainfield to a high of 8.2 cents per $100 dollars of assessed value in Rocky Hill.

Martin C. Bricketto: 908-243-6609; mbricketto@MyCentralJersey.com

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May 24, 2010

Perth Amboy hires architectural firm to rehab century-old library

nj.com
By Aliyah Shahid/For The Star-Ledger
May 17, 2010, 8:03PM

PERTH AMBOY -- Perth Amboy has moved a step closer to renovating its public library, which is more than 100 years old.

The city council unanimously agreed last week to hire an architectural firm to rehabilitate and expand Perth Amboy’s Carnegie Library.

The Trenton-based firm, Faridy Veisz Fraytak P.C., will create a preservation plan, nominate the library to the state’s historic register -- which will increase the library’s chances for additional state and federal funds -- bid out the project, and oversee construction, said Michael Keller, Perth Amboy’s economic development director.

“I’m happy that we’re taking another step towards improvement,” said Barbara Sottilaro, president of the library’s board of trustees, who added libraries are especially important for those who can’t afford books and Internet access in the downtrodden economy. “We are doing more now than we ever did before, so things are moving.”

The firm will be paid $248,065 from a combination of county and federal funds, said Keller.

A $30,000 feasibility study completed last year by Dennis Kowal Architects calls for renovating the Jefferson Street library and nearly tripling its size. The cost is estimated at $9 million.

According to the study, the library is 12,351 square feet, and much too small to serve Perth Amboy’s population of about 47,000. It is below the state’s 27,214-square-feet minimum required size for a library. The study calls for adding 22,500 square feet to the building’s east side. It also suggests expanding the children’s library and exposing hidden skylights. Adding an outdoor garden, a meeting room, a local history room, a magazine-reading room and air-conditioning are part of the plan. New restrooms, stairs and elevators are also recommended.

The upgraded facility would also be made handicapped-accessible. Now, rows between overflowing bookshelves are too narrow for wheelchairs.

“We want to restore this building back to its great splendor,” John Veisz, a partner in the architecture firm, told the council.

Keller said he hoped to acquire $3.5 million through donations and grants within the next year to renovate the existing structure. After that, the city would focus on funding new construction.

Sottilaro said the library’s fund-raising arm has raised about $30,000 so far. There will be a Dancing with the Stars fundraiser at 6 p.m. Thursday at Casa Seabra Portuguese Restaurant.

“These are tough times,” said Keller. “... Obviously, the city will share some of these costs, we’ll go out and beat the drums, but the money has to come from somebody in order to move forward.”

Mayor Wilda Diaz, a strong supporter of renovating the library, said the existing structure is too small and difficult for senior citizens to access.

“When it’s open, it’s always full. People have to wait in lines for the computers,” said Diaz. “...The economy doesn’t help us, but we’re going to continue to get grant money, continue to fundraise and we are looking at the option down the line of bonding for a portion for the library.”

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May 20, 2010

New library head takes reins in WR

http://www.leadernewspapers.net
By Chris Neidenberg / Reporter

WOOD-RIDGE (May 20, 2010) — New Wood-Ridge Memorial Library Director Christine Hartigan vows she’ll do her very best to try keeping the Hackensack Street facility as relevant as ever — in an age when the Internet, its search engines and social networking sites, are competing with the long-standing institution for the public’s attention.

“I’ve certainly enjoyed being here,” she said of her early moments, in a recent phone interview. “It’s a smaller library but it has historically enjoyed strong support within the community and a quite active Friends of the Library group. Everyone — staff, patrons — has gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.”

Hartigan, who replaced John Trause May 3, also takes over at a time Gov. Chris Christie is pursuing a potential cost-saving initiative that perhaps poses the greatest threat to the public library’s relevance, at least in recent times. The governor endorses a bill to drop minimum funding requirements now imposed on municipalities.

Hartigan agrees search engines such as Google can be useful tools. Yet she insisted a library’s human touch — be it in the form of a program that lets people collectively share an enriching human experience, or just the feel of a riveting hardcover novel — gives it a special niche a computer screen, keyboard and mouse just cannot match.

“If you want to read a good book that really interests you, I would think it’s more engaging when holding it in your hand compared to reading text from a screen,” reasoned Hartigan, a 23-year library veteran who takes the top spot after serving almost 17 years as an assistant in Lyndhurst.

“And nothing can replace the library as a viable community center,” she added. “It’s a place where people with common interests can come together and share experiences which can stimulate their curiosity and encourage creativity.”

In fact, Hartigan said one priority will be trying to increase “adult-oriented programs” so older persons in town can better relate to the potential the library can offer.

“We currently have a very strong children’s program, which we will work hard to maintain,” the director said. “We currently have an active and enthusiastic book discussion club but there’s room for growth when it comes to serving our older patrons.”

“I’m talking about things such as possibly adding music programs, financial seminars, even presentations on the benefits of using herbs to promote health,” she pointed out.

And Hartigan, who holds a degree in library science from Rutgers University, claimed the human help a library offers still surpasses the Internet in various situations.

“I certainly think the Internet is important, but you can run searches covering thousands of pages and that still might not help you when it comes to conducting scholarly research,” she explained. “In those situations, a skilled reference librarian can direct you to the right databases, to find the information you’re seeking.”

Of course, libraries themselves have long embraced the Internet and often offer patrons access to personal computers. Hartigan noted the Bergen County Cooperative Library System offers its own Web site. She said it currently provides a link enabling those opposing Christie’s proposal to send “electronic postcards” to the governor and state legislators urging it be rescinded. The site is at www.bccls.org.

“One of my biggest concerns is possibly losing the program enabling New Jersey libraries to cooperate in loaning out materials,” said Hartigan. She estimated the annual local library budget is at around $400,000. “It’s a valuable and very convenient service to our patrons and I don’t want to lose it.”

Madelyn Spies, treasurer of the Friends of the Wood-Ridge Library, praised Haritgan for showing strong enthusiasm and dedication to help the facility prosper through challenging times.

“She actually met with the Friends of the Library, which past directors have not done,” said Spies, who helped launch the book discussion club, and whose group stages various fund-raisers for the library. “I certainly agree we do need to expand our program for adults.”

Contact Chris at 201-438-8700

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Librarians rally at State House

northjersey.com
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Last updated: Thursday May 20, 2010, 3:21 AM
BY DEBRA WINTERS
Wayne Today
WAYNE — Hundreds gathered at the State House Annex in Trenton recently to oppose Gov. Chris Christie's proposal to cut 74 percent of funding for the state library system, an action many believe will be nothing less than devastating.

"I feel we needed to do our part because these cuts being proposed would be disastrous," said Doreen Shoba, head of the reference department at the Wayne Public Library.

Included in the cuts would be the elimination of all statewide library programs and services. New Jersey stands to lose roughly $4.5 million in federal funding leaving clientele severely impacted.

Amongst the biggest losses will be access to electronic databases such as RefUSA and EBSCO, as well as the statewide interlibrary loan and delivery service. Many libraries including Wayne could also lose access to the Internet as well.

Also being opposed is Assembly bill A2555, which would eradicate the minimum funding municipalities are required to budget for local libraries.

"These cuts are like delivering a death threat to libraries," said Shoba. Relating the loss of the interlibrary loan service, she added, "It will bring the library back to the 70s style."

The current state slogan – "NJ and You Perfect Together" - according to one sign at the rally may soon read – "NJ and You Ignorant Together."

"I knew the library was doing an important service on a daily basis, but after being there at the rally that feeling was definitely confirmed," Shoba said. "It was a great day all around."

The Wayne Public Library is already feeling the pinch especially with the electronic databases but with the interlibrary loan service still intact patrons haven't noticed much of a change - yet.

"Once people realize they can't get what they need then they will realize the loss," said Melissa Dunn, senior library assistant in the technical services department.

The cuts are not only directed towards public libraries, but at school libraries as well as those located in hospitals, historical societies, and prisons.

The Wayne Public Library belongs to the Highlands Regional Library Co-Op, which offers better resources for affordable training that library employees need in order to run the various reference software.

This also could be eliminated by the budget cuts.

"We rely on this co-op to better answer patrons' questions and point them in the right direction," said Pat Zerbe, senior librarian and adult services.

Dunn added, "And once these services are gone I think it will be difficult to bring them back."

Many libraries, including Wayne, are not in a position to function on their own, because much of the database services cost too much, explained Shoba.

"It's more money for us to go out and get these services on our own," she said.

With academic libraries also on the cutting board students stand to lose a lot in terms of research skills. Laying it out on the table, Wayne Valley High School Principal Robert Reis spoke candidly about the situation at hand.

"They will have to prioritize their time around the availability of our library maybe use a study hall or go after lunch.

Or if we have nobody to work in the library then kids will have to go online but they won't have hard copies like books," Reis said. "It's important for students to learn pertinent research skills especially for college."

E-mail: wintersd@northjersey.com

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Bridgeton library trustees decide to lay off full timers, cut library hours in half

nj.com
By Joe Green
May 19, 2010, 7:29PM

Staff Photo by Bryan LittelFive of six full-time employees will be laid off and the Bridgeton library's hours will be cut to 4 hours a day, six days a week, after a decision by the library's Board of Trustees Tuesday.BRIDGETON — The city library’s Board of Trustees decided Tuesday night to lay off five of the facility’s six full time employees and slash operating hours in half, according to library Executive Director Gail Robinson.

The cuts would be effective July 1, the start of the state’s new fiscal year. Robinson did not contact The News about the change.

She is not a board member but would be the only employee kept on full time hours, she said, while the other five would be invited to come back part time, at 19 hours a week. Longer hours would entitle them to benefits.

Those workers are currently paid $12 an hour, but their pay rate would drop to $8 an hour under the new plan.

According to a dismayed Robinson, the board foresees a 40 percent funding cut in the city’s upcoming budget, which has not been adopted yet.

She added that a 40 percent reduction would bring funding to the library to roughly $180,000.

The library is currently open 50 hours a week. But under the board’s new schedule, it would be open 24 hours a week - six days a week, four hours a day - Robinson said.

The board has not discussed employee or operating hours publicly with City Council during any of that body’s recent regular meetings.

The latest decision stands in contrast to earlier efforts to retain something at least close to the library’s normal hours and services.

In an October 2009 meeting, the board decided to nix, at least temporarily, closing the library one day a week.

Two local groups - Save the Library! and Friends of the Library - had also raised tens of thousands through efforts to that end.

A $15,000 state grant will pay for a study on how to best preserve the oldest portion of the facility completed in 1816 and which housed Cumberland National Bank at one time.

Attempts to reach several board members for comment Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

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May 19, 2010

Somerville library committee wants input on switch to Somerset County system

By The Messenger-Gazette
May 17, 2010, 9:29AM
SOMERVILLE — The Library Review Task Force has been charged with examining whether Somerville should join the county library system.

The group, made up of library board members, borough officials and residents, was formed at the beginning of the year. It has been exploring possible savings to the borough with joining the county and the impact on library services that residents receive.

The task force will ultimately make a report to Borough Council, but before that it’s looking for input from Somerville residents.

On June 1, the task force will be accepting comments from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the library’s Main Reading Room located at 35 West End Ave., Somerville.

If you would like to submit written comments, please do so prior to June 1 and address them to Kevin Sluka, Borough Administrator, 25 West End Ave., Somerville, N.J. 08876.

What do you think are the benefits of the Somerville library switching to the county system? What are your concerns? Answer in the comments section below.

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May 18, 2010

Bridgeton Library one of 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in New Jersey

nj.com
By The News of Cumberland County
May 18, 2010, 11:55AM

BRIDGETON — Bridgeton Free Public Library has been named one of the “10 Most Endangered Historic Sites” in New Jersey.

In recognition of National Preservation Month, Preservation New Jersey, Inc. (PNJ) held a press conference in Trenton this morning to announce its 16th annual list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites.

The program spotlights irreplaceable historic, architectural, cultural and archeological resources in New Jersey that are in imminent danger of being lost.

The library is in danger of closing because of city budget cuts.

Part of the Bridgeton library is the former Cumberland National Bank, built in 1816.

Two groups, Save the Library! and Friends of the Bridgeton Library, have worked to keep the library open and support efforts to preserve the building.

PNJ points to many properties previously listed among the 10 Most Endangered that have now been saved and preserved or rehabilitated, and have once again become character-defining assets to New Jersey’s communities.

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New Jersey libraries in crisis

nj.com
Star-Ledger Editorial Board
May 18, 2010,

Last week, the state’s librarians rallied in Trenton, complaining that Gov. Chris Christie’s plan to cut library funding by 74 percent will put libraries in a bind.
The librarians make good points:

• The state cuts are so harsh that many libraries could lose internet access and e-mail capabilities — a silly idea when more people need and use the internet and more governmental agencies and business are interacting with people online.

• The popular interlibrary loan, which shuttles books and other items between facilities, probably will be eliminated.

• And, ironically, at a time when Christie is demanding efficiencies, he is severely penalizing libraries — the group that practically invented shared services.

The cuts are Draconian, and partial funding should be restored. But instead of just getting their Dewey decimals in a knot, librarians should pool their brainpower and offer smart cuts to library services — because there must be cuts. As towns lay off cops, firemen and teachers, libraries must live with less, too.

Instead of demanding full funding restoration or tinkering with municipal spending caps, librarians should propose shutting some of the state’s 440 libraries. Patricia Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, admits that eventually some municipal libraries probably will have to close, “but am I prepared to say that we can do without 50 or 100 libraries? No,” Tumulty said.

Libraries are symbols of an educated society. But New Jersey has more than it needs — and, obviously, more than it can afford. We can be just as smart with fewer libraries if the closures are thoughtful and a responsible, long-term funding plan is created.
Edison, which has three libraries, recently closed its smallest branch — for a savings of $100,000 annually. And Scotch Plains and Fanwood will let residents vote next year on a merger of the town’s libraries. Other towns could follow those examples.

Morristown and Morris Plains have municipal libraries — both a short distance from the Morris County library. Hanover Township, home to the county library, has a municipal library, too. Those four libraries are redundant — in any economy. In a state of shoehorned municipalities, many neighboring communities have libraries almost rubbing up against each other. Many are tiny libraries that don’t make economic sense.

With the Morristown library damaged by underground explosions, and expensive repairs needed, merger and closure should be on the table.

At the rally, librarians wore T-shirts with the slogan, “Save My NJ Library.” They want to save them all. We can’t. But instead of a knee-jerk protest, librarians could help decide which ones to close to create a stronger, more efficient and more affordable library system.

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May 16, 2010

Scotch Plains, Fanwood libraries won't build but will combine

nj.com
By Jeremy Walsh/For The Star Ledger
May 16, 2010, 6:03AM
SCOTCH PLAINS -- After a three-year study, the Scotch Plains and Fanwood libraries are putting dreams of a new building on the back burner indefinitely, but they still intend to join forces to save money.

The two library boards voted unanimously last week to draft a plan to merge. The final decision will be up to voters in both towns next year.

“It could be the best and only way we could continue to provide quality services to people,” said Fanwood library director Dan Weiss.

The boards would have to hammer out a formula to fund the joint library between the two towns and work out other issues, like the fact that Scotch Plains’ library staff are civil service employees and Fanwood’s are not. Those negotiations would take too long to place the merger on November’s ballot, the directors said.
This is not the first step the libraries have taken towards each other. In 2005, they merged their patron database in order to launch an interlibrary lending program and partner on a museum ticket discount.

The joint study they commissioned in 2007 took three years to complete. It recommended merging the libraries and undertaking a $26 million replacement of the Scotch Plains facility to accommodate the new entity. In 2008, the Scotch Plains library had 160,930 visits compared with 58,212 visits to the Fanwood library, according to the study. Scotch Plains has 22,000 residents, while Fanwood has 7,100.

But by the time the libraries presented the building proposal at public hearings earlier this year, the nation had plunged into recession.

“Three years ago, when we started this project, things were drastically different,” Kolaya said, noting the public’s reaction was not positive. “They were pretty unanimous in thinking that this was not a good time for building.”

If they combine, the libraries would likely share the Scotch Plains facility and pare their collection by eliminating redundant books. The savings would likely come from eliminating the maintenance costs of one facility, not from staff cuts, the directors said.

“We feel pretty confident that everyone who is still working at the libraries -- when and if we merge -- would find places,” Kolaya said.

Both library buildings have their problems. Though the libraries are the only places in each town where residents can access free wireless Internet, neither building is wired with electrical outlets for laptop computers. Fanwood struggles with poor access to its lower floor, where its children’s collection is located.

With the proposed state budget including a 74 percent cut to library funding, both groups are facing additional cuts including reduced hours and losing the delivery service that allows readers to borrow materials from sites across the state.

Because the Fanwood library is smaller, it will be hit less hard by the state aid cuts, but Weiss noted the two facilities are already interlinked.

“Fanwood, frankly, is small to the point that if I am required to maintain a stand-alone operation, that would be very difficult,” he said.

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Warren County Library's northeast branch construction expected to begin by September

Thursday, May 13, 2010
By SARAH M. WOJCIK
The Express-Times
WHITE TWP. | If all goes as planned, construction on a new northeast branch of the Warren County Library System should kick off in early September.

Housed in the former Best Foods grocery market, the library branch would be about triple the size of the Independence Township facility. Freeholders purchased the 2-acre property at 30-42 Route 46 in Independence Township from a Liberty Township couple for $900,000 in November.

Project architect Ray O'Brien detailed plans for the 7,600-square-foot branch during the Warren County freeholders meeting Wednesday.

Among big additions planned are a large children's reading area, an 840-square-foot meeting room and a 1,700-square-foot mezzanine, or balcony-like, second floor.

O'Brien said the red-hued, white-trimmed building just down Route 46 from the existing branch would retain its country look. Still, it needs extensive repainting.

A limited-use lift is planned for access to the building's second floor, O'Brien said. He explained that a full-blown elevator setup would not be necessary because the mezzanine doesn't require the same access standards as a complete second floor.

New lighting, heating and air conditioning and roofing also are on the list of needed improvements, according to the architect. A white trellis near the rear of the building hadn't been addressed, but Freeholder Everett Chamberlain said he'd like to see it used instead of torn down.

"I think it would be a wonderful reading area," Chamberlain said, adding. "And I think that it would be a fantastic place for a Boy Scout to do his Eagle Scout project there."

Funding estimates for the project haven't been established yet but are expected by mid-June, O'Brien said.

"We'll have the costs prior to going out to bid," he said.

O'Brien expects to award a contract in mid-August if his timeline holds.

Freeholder Director Rick Gardner said he was pleased with the progress on the project so far.

"It's looking good," Gardner said.

Reporter Sarah M. Wojcik can be reached at 610-258-7171, ext. 3631, or swojcik@express-times.com. Talk about issues in your town at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.

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May 15, 2010

Libraries are facing a greater burden

http://www.dailyrecord.com
Letters to the Editor

By JAYNE M. BELINE • May 15, 2010

The Daily Record editorial of May 10 did not correctly address the pending loss in funding to all types of New Jersey libraries if the proposed state budget cuts are approved. The editorial said that a 74 percent cut is not disproportionate to the cuts experienced by local school districts. It is an interesting comparison, but it is simply not accurate. A review of the facts is needed.

The comparison should be made by contrasting the proposed budget cuts for two departments of state government: the State Library and the Department of Education. The appropriation to the State Library will be cut by $10.4 million or 74 percent of the $14 million spent on statewide services for all types of libraries. The Department of Education, on the other hand, is losing $819.5 million or only 7.4 percent from its Fiscal Year 2010 budget of $11,130 billion.

Moreover, public libraries will lose 50 percent of per capita state aid because of the cuts being proposed for the State Library, while the total aid to school districts actually increased by $68 million. Now to be fair, Formula Aid, which I believe is the bulk of the aid that most school districts receive, decreased by $24.7 million statewide, but that is less than a half of a percent of the $6.8 billion in formula aid that is given out.

But keep in mind that the state is losing more than $1 billion in stimulus money that was spent in last year's school aid budget, which means that New Jersey taxpayers would actually pay $236 million more in aid to school districts in Fiscal Year 2011, which starts July 1.

Yes, cuts in state aid are being made everywhere, but if you do the math, the cuts to statewide library programs are indeed disproportionate to those proposed for school districts.

In addition, public libraries collectively will be spending millions of dollars from their local budgets as they try to replicate the services lost by these budget cuts. Public libraries are also facing the threat of Assembly Bill, A2555, which would eliminate the one-third of a mil of equalized valuation funding formula and has the potential to allow township officials to decide that they will not fund the library.

Furthermore, the absence of a mandated funding formula may leave library boards open to challenges by governing officials regarding the types of books and media they purchase and threaten the library's ability to fulfill its role of providing programs and services that protect the freedom of speech and expression.

The editorial further suggests that the way to handle the cuts is for public libraries to establish a foundation to conduct local fundraising. Many local libraries have foundations and "Friends" groups who work to raise funds for their libraries. However, libraries are an essential service to the community. In these economic times, libraries serve as a life line to the jobless. I would hazard a guess that if funding were cut to the local fire or police departments, your newspaper would not suggest that these entities should conduct fundraising to balance their budgets.

Jayne M. Beline is director of the Parsippany Library.

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HILLSBOROUGH: Libraries mull service cuts if aid is reduced

Hillsborough Beacon

Thursday, May 6, 2010 11:05 AM EDT
By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer

The Hillsborough Township Public Library is looking at a possible loss of access to electronic resources if the state’s library budget ceases to provide funding for the subscriptions as of July 1.

In his proposed state budget, the governor calls for a $10 million decrease in statewide funding for libraries.

”If the state library budget no longer funds these subscriptions, the Somerset County Library will investigate other options in maintaining these subscriptions within the constraints of our budget,” said Ed Hoag, director of the Hillsborough Public Library.

Each previous year, Mr. Hoag said, the township library had received about $3,300 in state aid. But this year, cuts in the state budget are lowering the amount of money to be distributed.

The Somerset County Library System (SCLS), of which Hillsborough is one branch, is looking to lose about $75,000 in per capita state aid for 2011, according to a letter written by Library System Director Jim Hecht, who retired from the position April 30.
As of July 1, Mr. Hecht wrote, it is expected that funding for the commercial databases will cease, affecting the county’s plan to spend about $168,000 on access to new databases.

”If the state-funded databases such as Reference USA and EBSCHO Host are eliminated, we will need to re-evaluate all of our current subscriptions and determine which ones we will purchase using that same pot of money,” he stated in the letter. “In the end, subscriptions to several databases may have to be canceled.”

Mr. Hecht stated in the letter that these databases are often used for homework assignments, access to full-text magazine articles, job searching and consumer information.

In addition, Mr. Hecht continued, statewide purchasing agreements that normally allow libraries to obtain databases and other services at reduced costs will be unavailable if the state’s budget is approved.

”Without these discounts, many school and public libraries will be unable to retain these materials after the current subscription expires, denying thousands of school children and adults equal access to information,” he wrote.

If the library is forced to use United States mail or other carrier services to borrow materials from other libraries, rather than using the state-funded delivery service, the cost to borrow the items could increase by as much as $3 each, Mr. Hecht said.

”In order to contain our costs, we will either have to restrict the number of items a patron can request from another library, or consider passing on the shipping charges to the users of the Interlibrary Loan service,” he wrote, adding that access to a statewide database to locate libraries with the materials needed will cease, and the county may have to rely on a fee-based database in the future.

At this point, Mr. Hoag said, these reductions have all been proposed in the state budget, but nothing has been finalized and nothing has been officially eliminated yet.

”The library continuously reviews the services and programs it can provide to its communities,” he said. “Once the state budget has been approved, we will review its impact and how it affects the services we are able to provide.”

In Mr. Hecht’s letter, he also outlined several programs that could cease by 2012, including access to the Internet through a statewide program and the Talking Book and Braille Center in Trenton, which the library has used for certain specialized resources, but will not be able to duplicate the service.

Of the Internet program, Mr. Hecht wrote that although he does not know what it would cost for the libraries to take care of this themselves, it could be a costly process.

”The SCLS network is complex, and contracting with an ISP that provides the bandwidth we need could be rather expensive,” he stated.

Mr. Hecht added he would encourage residents to express their opinions about the proposed cuts, and that the library is going to attempt to retain as many services as possible.

”But with a budget that has been stretched to the limit these past few years, it is very likely that some services will be affected,” he wrote. “There is no doubt that the state of New Jersey is facing very difficult times, and rightfully we all need to make sacrifices. But asking libraries to take a disproportionate cut in funding is not fair, particularly when libraries are a key resource to help get the New Jersey economy back in shape.”

In the letter, Mr. Hecht stated residents can contact the governor, or the Senate and Assembly members to express their opinions on the cuts, and visit savemynewjerseylibrary.org to support the local libraries.
For Mr. Hoag, although he knows there is a chance for the cuts, he said the library will still do what it can to ensure that all services are offered. He said there is always a chance something that has been eliminated could be restored at a future date.

”Librarians are optimists, and we have always been at the forefront of finding ways to coordinate efforts and share costs,” he said. “As soon as we have a clear idea of our resources, we will pick up the pieces and figure out how we can best serve our customers.”

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Will Clifton library services be cut?

northjersey.com

Friday, May 14, 2010
BY TONY GICAS
Clifton Journal
STAFF WRITER
CLIFTON – The future of 300 New Jersey public libraries has come into question due to a two-pronged threat of proposed state budget cuts and a legislative bill which, if passed, would enable municipalities like Clifton to further slash funding.

Last month, Gov. Chris Christie proposed cuts of $10.4 million – 74 percent – of the state's library programs and services; a proposition which Clifton Library Director Candice Brown said would have "devastating" repercussions.

"People don't feel the library is an essential service, but it is," Brown said. "We serve everyone equally from the richest to the poorest to the youngest and the oldest residents. We serve the people who need us the most whether that be students doing research for school or unemployed people looking for jobs."

Should the cuts come to fruition Clifton's public libraries would suffer a reduction of about $40,000 in state aid next year, Brown said.

And, because nearly every library in America relies on shared services and is unable to purchase all of the materials required to serve its community, Brown said the cutting of interlibrary loans would have a major impact.

In 2009, the Clifton public libraries borrowed 16,578 items and lent out 12,646.
"And all libraries do this so for somebody to cut this major service would be catastrophic," Brown reiterated.

Compounding the situation is legislative bill A-2555 which would eliminate minimum funding for libraries and would result in fewer books, fewer hours, fewer services and possibly the closure of some libraries.

Municipal libraries receive a specific amount of dollars based on the calculation of one-third of a "mil." A mil represents 33 cents on $1,000 of an assessed home's value. As a result, a home assessed at $100,000, for example, would pay $33 a year for library service.
In 2009 Clifton libraries received $3,731,987 from the City, but that number decreased to $3,532,101, or about 5.6 percent in 2010.

Without the guarantee of this funding the municipality can simply cut City money altogether, Brown said. "And that's on top of the $200,000 we already lost of our one-third of a mil from last year."
Brown was one of the several hundred librarians and library advocates who stormed the Statehouse last week in order to express distaste for the Governor's proposal.
That day the rallying cries of advocates revolved around the importance and affordability of library services amongst taxpayers.

According to New Jersey Library Association data, the $10.4 million in budget cuts represents approximately $1 per New Jerseyan in State funds. Additionally, the NJLA says the funding at risk via the A-2555 bill comprises less than 3 percent of local property taxes.

While in attendance for the rally, Brown unexpectedly ran into a Clifton mother and her children who made the trek to Trenton to show their support. The mother, who home schools her children, frequents the City's libraries several times a week and coincidentally had had correspondence with Brown via the comment suggestion box.

"They were so passionate that her daughter who was 7 or 8 years old actually got up in front of the people and spoke," Brown said.

This passionate family of public library supporters represents a much larger population, however.
Brown cited the City library's annual report and said there were 53,516 public computer users and 311,357 overall visits – nearly 1,000 each day - in the library in 2009.

Mayor James Anzaldi said Tuesday that he could not yet comment on what effect proposed cuts might have on Clifton's library staff and services but did cite the importance of the facilities, particularly during a time of economic decline.

"In this economy the library is getting more use than before," he said. "People are using the system a great deal. For example, the in-house computers are there for people who can't afford to do it elsewhere."

Brown seconded the Mayor's statement, saying "every time there is a recession or economic crisis the library use always goes up."
From 2008 to 2009 the number of registered borrowers in Clifton libraries went up 11 percent to nearly 30,000, Brown said.

"We're busier than ever," she explained. "We could use more funding, not less."
In terms of what the budget cuts might mean for employees of the City's public libraries, Brown said that has yet to be determined, though she said she hopes it will not have an impact this year.

"Next year, however, it may have major impact because it brings the possibility of reduced services and hours," she said. "If this passes and there is no interlibrary loan, things like our Web site and many other aspects managed by the state would not be there anymore come July 1."
Programs in the line of fire include free internet services, which Brown said are crucial for unemployed residents searching for jobs and writing their resume as well as visitors without a personal computer who are applying for Social Security or food stamps.

Community staples like the summer reading program for young students and discussion groups typically comprised of senior citizens would not have the funding to survive such cuts.
Some municipalities, like Montclair, have already been forced to reduce hours and even close their doors on a given day.

In the meantime City library staff has been informing residents of a postcard campaign designed to dissuade the Governor's office from making such aid reductions. As of this week 60,000 postcards signed by residents around the state had reached Trenton, Brown said.
With 170,000 New Jerseyans visiting libraries each day, library advocates hope their collective voice becomes impossible to discount.

E-mail: gicas@northjersey.com

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May 14, 2010

Orange Closes Library for the Month of May

localtalknews.com
Thursday, 13 May 2010 13:40 Walter Elliot .ORANGE – The Orange Free Public Library will be closed until at least June 1 for lead paint and possible asbestos remediation.

The Orange Health Department closed the library building at 348 Main St. on May 1 and four signs warning of lead contamination now adorn the library's front door and 109-year-old columns. Two rows of red danger tape across the library's Main Street entrance stairs provide an additional disincentive to access the two after-hours book drops.

Meanwhile, officials from neighboring libraries said that they've seen a slight increase in patronage from Orange cardholders.

Representatives of the East and West Orange public libraries said that they will honor Orange cardholders' access to their holdings and services this month like they always have. Glen Ridge's director added that there has been an increase in the borough's computer use - but it is not clear whether the visiting patrons are from Orange.

"We've had more patrons using our computers - but they don't identify themselves as being from Orange or another town," said Glen Ridge Library Director John Sitnik. "We've had more patrons from Montclair since they've been closing on Mondays. I'm not sure if Orange residents would likely visit us since we don't have a parking lot."

East Orange Public Library spokeswoman Lina Bellewitch said the library will honor Orange cardholders who have a valid Reciprocating Essex County Library (ReBL) sticker on their card.

"We've seen Orange residents come in and use our materials - but they've always been welcomed," said West Orange Library Director Mary Romance. "Due to the suddenness of the Orange library's closing, we've been in talks with Orange city officials, the library's trustees and the Friends of the Orange Public Library."

Orange Business Administrator John Mason confirmed that he and other Orange officials have had talks about library reciprocation with East and West Orange colleagues. Mason added that the lead and asbestos remediation is going well enough to meet a June 1 reopening.

"I had a meeting with the library trustees president and the contractor on the library steps yesterday morning (May 11)," said Mason. "The contractor showed us his progress. We'll be happy to reopen the library to our residents and the public June 1."

South Orange Village Library Director Melissa Kopecky said that she can inform her ReBL colleagues and patrons from Orange.

"That's good news," said Kopecky. "We're about to have a ReBL meeting on how to help Orange library patrons. I've seen Orange residents confused about when their library will reopen and what their card can do for them."

Orange Health Officer Vincent DeFilippo ordered the library closed May. 1. DeFilippo, who was attending an out of state seminar May 10-13, was quoted in other media outlets as saying that he had received a complaint of paint peeling from library walls. He said he gave an initial order to cleanup and close March 10 and extended the deadline to April 30.

There may also be asbestos removed from beneath the plaster walls should the substance be detected while the lead paint is removed from the main building's walls.

Meanwhile, the library trustees hired Alpine Painting and Sandblasting Contractors of Paterson April 13. Orange Library Director Doris Walker said in a published report that the $43,000 contracts covers lead paint - but that any asbestos remediation is to be covered by a separate agreement.

Alpine's work will largely focused on the building's 1901 structure. That core was designed by famous architect Sanford White (1853-1906) of McKim, Mead and White, New York. A southwest wing was added in the 1970s and the most recent major work was the reopening of the main building's rotunda last year.

Walker, a former East Orange assistant director before her 1990 appointment in Orange, said that the lead paint may have come from a renovation during the 1950s. That renovation may have included the enclosing the rotunda's space with a drop ceiling.

The library building is on the national and state register of historic places. The 1901 building, however, is the oldest active library in the area.

The library had been striving to match a $750,000 restoration grant offering by the Garden State Preservation Historic Trust Fund. The trustees had also posted a 107-page preservation plan on the library Web site Nov. 18, 2008.

Posted by tumulty at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)
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May 13, 2010

No more library loans

http://www.northjersey.com

Thursday, May 13, 2010

BY MOLLIE GRAY
Verona-Cedar Grove Times
MANAGING EDITOR

Verona and Cedar Grove library users will soon have to find another means of borrowing books the municipal library doesn't carry.

The interlibrary loan service, which residents can use to request materials not available at their local library, is due to end June 30.
The elimination of the service is part of Gov. Chris Christie's proposed $10.4 million in cuts to New Jersey's public libraries – a 74 percent reduction in funding. New Jersey is also slated to lose $4.5 million in federal funding for libraries, once state funding is eliminated.

Locally, the funding cuts will make it more difficult for patrons to access materials from other libraries across the state, explained library officials.
"They would have to go out and buy these books themselves or pay to download them if the information is available, or the information just won't be obtainable," said Jim Thomas, director of the Verona Public Library. "Obviously we in Verona and Cedar Grove are small libraries and we have neither the budget nor the room to house large collections and interlibrary loan is an efficient way to share those materials."

The Verona library typically loans out between 1,200 and 1,300 materials a year through the interlibrary loan system, said Thomas. The library receives deliveries from the service four days a week.

The Cedar Grove Free Public Library loaned a total of 9,158 materials through other libraries in 2009, according to library Director Catherine Wolverton.
The proposed budget cuts would also eliminate access to research databases like EBSCOhost, which allows residents to search electronically for the full text of millions of articles.
E-mail: gray@northjersey.com

Verona and Cedar Grove library users will soon have to find another means of borrowing books the municipal library doesn't carry.

The interlibrary loan service, which residents can use to request materials not available at their local library, is due to end June 30.

The elimination of the service is part of Gov. Chris Christie's proposed $10.4 million in cuts to New Jersey's public libraries – a 74 percent reduction in funding. New Jersey is also slated to lose $4.5 million in federal funding for libraries, once state funding is eliminated.

Locally, the funding cuts will make it more difficult for patrons to access materials from other libraries across the state, explained library officials.

"They would have to go out and buy these books themselves or pay to download them if the information is available, or the information just won't be obtainable," said Jim Thomas, director of the Verona Public Library. "Obviously we in Verona and Cedar Grove are small libraries and we have neither the budget nor the room to house large collections and interlibrary loan is an efficient way to share those materials."

The Verona library typically loans out between 1,200 and 1,300 materials a year through the interlibrary loan system, said Thomas. The library receives deliveries from the service four days a week.

The Cedar Grove Free Public Library loaned a total of 9,158 materials through other libraries in 2009, according to library Director Catherine Wolverton.

The proposed budget cuts would also eliminate access to research databases like EBSCOhost, which allows residents to search electronically for the full text of millions of articles.

E-mail: gray@northjersey.com

Posted by tumulty at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)
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Gov. Christie, don't cut funding to New Jersey libraries

nj.com

By Hunterdon County Democrat
May 12, 2010, 4:14PM

Hunterdon County Library in Raritan Township
In the clamor for lower taxes and leaner government, the benefits of so-called shared services are often touted. It seems intuitively obvious that sharing personnel and equipment can yield cost savings for everyone.

But — is it true? And — should price be the determining factor?

There’s no question that shared services can yield benefits… at least sometimes. Perhaps one of the best examples of shared services is also one of the first, and that’s our state’s library system. In addition to sharing books and periodicals, the system also shares technical assistance with libraries around the state, which may borrow books not only from other members in New Jersey, but from around the country.

That’s why we’re concerned about Gov. Chris Christie’s plan to cut funding for the state’s libraries by about 74%, to $10.4 million. In the absence of a plan to replace existing library services with a less-expensive alternative, this sounds like a classic “penny-wise, pound-foolish” decision.

It remains to be seen whether the sharing in some areas — such as police or road departments — yield taxpayer savings or better tax-paid services. But there’s no disputing the success of our state library system, which has seen increased demand for services in this time of economic strife.

To Gov. Christie, we place a finger to our lips and offer to his cost-cutting plan the librarian’s traditional retort: “Sshhhhhhhhhh!”

Posted by tumulty at 5:40 PM | Comments (0)
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Dozens in Rutherford speak out against library cuts

http://www.northjersey.com

Wednesday, May 12, 2010
BY NICK CLUNN
The Record

Proposed budget cuts that would force the Rutherford Public Library to institute layoffs and weeklong closures drew opposition Tuesday night from dozens of residents who called on the Borough Council to lessen the blow.

The library’s director, Jane Fisher, encouraged supporters to attend the council meeting to help explain how a 30 percent reduction in funding from the municipality would degrade a taxpayer-supported service used daily by 800 people.

“You may be impacting people you never see because they’re not in your circles, but they go to the library,” resident Lise Avery told the mayor and council.

Following two hours of testimony, several council members said they were never fully committed to the numbers proposed for the library. The introduced municipal budget for this year is a living document, they said.

But officials also warned that any funding returned to the library would lead to cuts elsewhere in the borough.

E-mail: clunn@northjersey.com

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Bucco asks for full investigation by BPU into Morristown explosion

http://www.dailyrecord.com

By ABBOTT KOLOFF • STAFF WRITER • May 13, 2010

MORRISTOWN -- State Sen. Anthony Bucco said he contacted the state Board of Public Utilities on Wednesday to spur an investigation into the explosion at the Morristown & Morris Township Library.

Meanwhile, Jersey Central Power & Light officials said their investigation has stalled because Travelers Insurance hasn't allowed them access to the library because of a concerns about workers' training in dealing with asbestos.

One week after an underground explosion punched a hole in the basement floor and blew out windows and doors at the library on South Street, town officials say they are still waiting for answers and considering hiring an independent contractor to conduct an investigation. The library remains closed and town officials have said it would take weeks just to assess the damage.

Mayor Timothy Dougherty said Bucco told him on Wednesday that the BPU would conduct a thorough investigation including not only the library explosion, but other underground explosions that have blown out manhole covers over the years. He said he was hopeful that BPU involvement would mean the town doesn't have to hire an independent engineer.

"With the BPU getting involved, we can save money on that,'' he said.

Bucco, R-Boonton, said he was "very pleased'' that BPU officials responded to his request on Wednesday by saying they would conduct an investigation. A BPU investigator was on the scene last week but BPU officials said that was just part of a "preliminary investigation.''

"I told them I need answers,'' Bucco said on Wednesday.

BPU spokesman Doyal Siddell said on Wednesday that he was unable to confirm that the agency would conduct a full-blown investigation.

JCP&L officials have said a secondary cable leading to the library and St. Peter's
Episcopal Church was damaged during last week's explosion, but have not determined it was the cause. They have said previous underground explosions were caused by faulty cables. But they said last week's explosion was more intense than anything they have seen associated with faulty cables.

That was the third underground explosion in Morristown in six months, and the second in the same area of South Street in a little more than two months.

JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said on Wednesday that Travelers Insurance, which holds the policy on the building, had not yet allowed the utility company's workers inside the library.

"There's asbestos present and they (workers) have to be trained and certified,'' Morano said, adding that he expected Travelers to conduct the training for JCP&L workers. "We need to have access to our equipment and the cables that go into the library. We are working with Travelers to obtain access.''

Travelers Insurance officials did not immediately respond to a Daily Record request for information on Wednesday.

Bucco said he asked the BPU to contact Travelers and expedite JCP&L's access to the library.

"How do you get to the root of the problem if JCP&L can't get in there?'' Bucco said.
Abbott Koloff: 973-428-6636; akoloff@gannett.com

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Oaks at Weymouth senior citizens fear state cuts will mean last chapter for bookmobile

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com
By LEE PROCIDA Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A group of seniors from the Oaks at Weymouth development usually leave the Atlantic County Library System’s bookmobile with their hands full of books, but on Tuesday they came with their hands full of protest signs against state cuts to library services.

The seniors say they rely on the bus that travels throughout the county distributing books and other media, since many of its patrons are handicapped and do not have access to the nearest library in Hamilton Township.

Some can no longer drive, while others are “a menace on the road,” they joked in the gravel parking lot where the bus stopped for an hour Tuesday.

“This is a godsend,” said 78-year-old Loretta Regan, who had a stack of books in her arm.

Library Director Bill Paullin said no cuts have been proposed to the bookmobile yet, aside from an annual reduction in the amount of trips it makes during the summer when schools close.

Still, a proposed 74 percent funding reduction for the state’s library services in Gov. Chris Christie budget may ultimately affect the service and others, he said.

“Bookmobile service is not being directly impacted by the governor’s budget,” he said, “but down the line it may be.”

Maria Savino, 55, a resident of the neighborhood off 11th Avenue, said that would be devastating to the people living there, many of whom are handicapped and have few other options for entertainment.

Marie Russo, 79, said the same thing, after she picked up a DVD and a James Patterson novel.

“I come here all the time,” she said.

The library system’s Web site calls the bookmobile “an invaluable service for those who are without transportation or access to a library branch.”

It carries 2,800 items, including books, magazines, audio books, DVDs, CDs and other videos.

The county says the service has been available since the 1930s.

But Paullin said the costs of the service are increasing while funding is declining, and that the bookmobile’s future would be based on it being a priority over other library services.

Kathie Cookie and Ellen Vander were running the bus Tuesday. They said they routinely see people of all ages routinely using the service, and were worried about how reduced routes would affect those users’ lifestyles.

Diane Schneider, 65, shared that worry as she checked out some items and overheard them discussing the issue.

“What the heck are we going to do?” she asked.

Contact Lee Procida:

609-457-8707

LProcida@pressofac.com

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May 11, 2010

Libraries are a life source

Letter to the Editor
nj.com
May 11, 2010

Libraries are a critical resource in our communities; in tough times, libraries help people help themselves. Libraries provide computer access to job seekers and students, and information database access to small businesses, which would be otherwise unaffordable. Libraries offer early literacy programs and homework help to families, as well as self-improvement resources, classes and a host of other services.

Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed budget would gut this funding by 74 percent. Libraries will be forced to strip needed services, and some will close entirely. The statewide Library for the Blind and Handicapped will be completely defunded. And these cuts will cause the loss of $4.5 million in federal money.

This disproportionate cut is irresponsible. It sacrifices federal funding, destroys libraries’ tax-saving cost-sharing structure and deprives New Jerseyans of a tool for self-sufficiency. I urge New Jerseyans to contact the governor and their state senators to protest the cut to state library funding.

Heather Craven, Nutley

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May 10, 2010

Libraries feeling the pain

May 10, 2010
http://www.dailyrecord.com

Editorial

We certainly can sympathize with the few dozen librarians from Morris County who
boarded buses last week to go to Trenton to protest a projected 74 percent cut in state library funds. The numbers are not pretty. State aid to libraries is proposed to drop from $14 million under current spending to $3.6 million in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Librarians say a cut of that magnitude would decimate important services such as
interlibrary loans, which allow a person to go to a local library and obtain materials from any other cooperating library.

We are not going to disagree with that diagnosis, or with the importance of libraries. The librarians are right to be upset.

But here's the harsh reality — state aid is being cut in all areas. Libraries are not
necessarily being singled out. The Daily Record ran a photo of a librarian holding a sign that read a "74% cut is not shared sacrifice."

Actually, it is. The state cut about $820 million in aid to school districts for next
school year and in some cases in Morris County, districts lost 100 percent of their aid. Others, including the county's largest school district, Parsippany, lost about 80 percent of its aid.

Our point is not to poke fun at the librarians' argument. But it is to say that substantial cuts in state aid are being made elsewhere. One can not ignore that.

The governor's aim is to administer harsh medicine in the hope that the state's finances and the overall economy improve. Will that happen? Probably, but no one really knows when. But when it does occur, state aid should begin flowing again.

Meanwhile, the Morris County Library does have a foundation that supplements tax support by raising money privately. In these times, such creative ways are more important than ever.

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Doblin: $10.4 million is a small price for literacy

Monday, May 10, 2010
By ALFRED P. DOBLIN
RECORD EDITORIAL COLUMNIST

THE NEW JERSEY Sports and Exposition Authority’s budget is in the hole for approximately $30 million. The authority has reportedly reduced its payroll by $1.3 million to $11.3 million. A fifth of its employees make more than $100,000.

While state agencies, municipalities, school districts and public employees are being asked to cut back big time, the Sports Authority is hoping Trenton will come to its rescue. We all knew there was a rail spur into the Meadowlands. Now, we know in addition to NJ Transit, the gravy trains may run on the same rails.

Even before he took office, Governor Christie wisely put together a commission to study what has been happening at the Meadowlands. There’s a lot to review. There’s the bad stadium deal that turned a revenue stream for the Sports Authority into a meager trickle. The new football stadium is owned by the Giants and Jets, not the Sports Authority.

The Nets are leaving. The Devils have long gone. The Red Bulls are gone. The race track is losing its audience base. There is no sports tenant remaining at the Izod Center, and Xanadu, the entertainment/retail mega-monster, is unfinished. I use this analogy with apologies to the state of Michigan, but if one more revenue source leaves the Meadowlands, the complex should be renamed Flint.

I hope the governor continues his policy of cutting state funding to wasteful agencies and does not fork over $30 million to the Sports Authority. His advisers have a tough job in sorting out what role, if any, the Sports Authority should play in the future of the Meadowlands or racing in New Jersey. If we have reached the point where lunch ladies have to fight for their very existence, we have reached the point where the Sports Authority has to justify itself.

This leads me to the rather paltry sum of $10.4 million. That is the amount of money that the Christie administration has proposed to cut from library funding. It may seem small in the bigger scheme of the state budget, but it represents 74 percent of state funding toward libraries.

Consider how small an amount 100 percent of state library funding is compared to the Sports Authority. The authority is looking for the state to provide more money to bail itself out of its hole than all the state’s libraries received before the budget axe fell — almost triple.

It is a clear example of the skewed past priorities of Trenton. Christie has been consistent in his budget-cutting message. But there are some things that really cannot be cut during a fiscal crisis. Libraries are only expendable to people who are rich enough to not need them or too ignorant to know that they need them.

Years ago, I dragged then-Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera into a branch library in Passaic that he wanted to shut down. The library was supposedly in need of massive repairs. What it was in need of was city leadership passionate about public libraries.

Ironically, the service most affected by the proposed 74 percent cut is interlibrary exchanges. At exactly the same time the state is encouraging consolidation of services, a shared service between libraries is imperiled.

Libraries are like bread — they are a staple of the human diet. They aren’t sexy like sports teams. But they don’t leave communities like sports teams. As a state, New Jersey has bent over backwards to accommodate sports franchises. Most of these teams don’t even acknowledge the state they play in on their uniforms and merchandise. But when it comes to a commitment to public literacy — the currency of success — there is little fanfare. There is little notice.

There is nothing more fundamental to public education than libraries. I don’t know if the Sports Authority can find another $30 million in cuts. I don’t why New Jersey still has a Sports Authority.

I do know libraries statewide will be devastated by a 74 percent cut in funding. And I do know why we need libraries. If only Trenton did as well.

Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of The Record. Contact him at doblin@northjersey.com Follow AlfredPDoblin on Twitter.

Posted by tumulty at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)
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Jefferson looking at library to help with budget problems

http://www.dailyrecord.com
By ROSA KASPER • SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD • May 10, 2010

JEFFERSON — The township's municipal government has a $186,000 shortfall in its preliminary $22.5 million budget while the Jefferson Library is likely to have a surplus from its roughly $1 million tax levy.

The disparity has some in government wondering if charging the library rent on its 8,000-square-foot building and billing it for snowplowing and other services could help fill the township's budget gap.

"Maybe," said Township Administrator James Leach. "We can't afford not to look at all expenses and all possible sources of revenues. We've lost $677,000 in state aid this year."

Township Tax Assessor Shawn Hopkins has set the value of the library at between $10 and $12 per square foot, for a rent of $80,000 a year, Leach said. The charge for snowplowing, landscaping and other services could bring in another $30,654, he added.

"It is both difficult and emotional to make changes from what has always existed, but this process is needed in today's budget climate," wrote Council President Rick Yocum in an e-mail to the Daily Record. "Part of our effort is to see if there are costs associated with the library that could be recouped from the library budget."

"Absolutely not," Library Board of Trustees President Michael J. Stewart said in reply. "The law doesn't allow municipalities to charge libraries rent for buildings the municipalities own."

The law in question is N.J. Administrative Code 15:21, which states that libraries may use their funds to pay rent only for privatly owned or school-district-owned buildings.

The law also says a library board may transfer surplus to the municipality, but only if the funds allow the town to lower taxes, and not to help cover a budget shortfall. The process for transferring the funds is complex and it requires the township government to submit a justification for approval from the state librarian. By law, the library must keep at least 25 percent of its budget in the bank.

Stewart said, however, that he and the other board members intend to work with the township in every way possible.

Posted by tumulty at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)
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Library cuts much too harsh

May 7, 2010
Letters to Editor
c-n.com

All realize that New Jersey has serious financial issues, but Christie's 74 percent hatcheting of our libraries is completely out of proportion. This cut will be devastating to libraries and to everyone who uses them.

A librarian clarified to me that this budget cut regresses library budgets back to the 1970s when they offered only books, and nothing more. There did not exist the multitude of library services that we have today, such as all the programs for children and teens, for the handicapped, for the elderly, for the unemployed, and even welcoming and local orientation programs for those new to the area. But these will be eliminated in the budget cuts, and those of us whose libraries do not shut down completely, will have only books to offer.

Just think about all the things our libraries offer us. Now think about all those things eliminated. And say a prayer of thanks to Gov. Christie.

EZEKIEL MUMAN
Edison

Posted by tumulty at 6:21 AM | Comments (0)
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Monmouth County Library sponsors Preservation Week programs

http://www.app.com

Coleen Dee Berry • Reader Submitted • May 7, 2010

Whether you're an archivist caring for a library collection, or someone who's looking for the best way to preserve those old family photos and documents, the Monmouth County Library has some tips for you on Thursday, May 13.

The Library and the Monmouth County Archives will sponsor a free, day-long program of educational films and a webinar on preservation techniques designed to help librarians, archivists and family members alike. The program is part of the American Library Association's first annual Preservation Week, “Pass It On!” which runs May 9 through 15.

Films will offer tips on book conservation, paper cleaning and caring for microforms. Homeowners can view How to Paint Your 19th Century American House Historically, a film courtesy of the Ocean Grove Historical Association. And a webinar on mold prevention and remediation, by Michele Brown, book conservator at Cornell University, will be offered at 2 p.m. The program will be held at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters, 125 Symmes Drive, Manalapan. No pre-registration is required.
“We want to reach out to the community to let them know about the preservation expertise offered by the library and the archives,'' said Gary Saretzky, Archivist at the Monmouth County Archives.

Memories and treasures should last a lifetime and be passed on to future generations. Preservation Week is sponsored by the ALA's Association of Library Collections and Services and partner organizations and is designed to raise awareness of the role libraries and other cultural institutions can play in providing ongoing preservation information.

In 2005, the first comprehensive national survey of the condition and preservation needs of the nation's collections was undertaken by Heritage Preservation, the National Institute for Conservation. Heritage Preservation reported that U.S. institutions hold more than 4.8 billion items in their collections, with 3 billion items held by libraries (63 percent of the whole). A treasure trove of uncounted additional items is held by individuals, families, and communities.

Some 630 million items in collecting institutions require immediate attention and care, according to the survey. Often institutions have neither the staff nor the funds to help preserve their collections. ALA is using Preservation Week to connect with communities, institutions and individuals to demonstrate what they can do to preserve both personal and shared collections.

The programs at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters are as follows:
Preservation Film Schedule
9:30 a.m. Elements of Book Conservation. 16 minutes
10 a.m. Paper Cleaning: Wet and Dry Methods. 10 minutes
10:15 a.m. Caring for Your Microform Collection. 12 minutes
10:30 a.m. Library and Archival Disaster: Preparedness and Recovery. 20 minutes
11 a.m. Slow Fires: On the Preservation of the Human Record. 1 hour
12:45 p.m. Basic Preservation Techniques. 70 minutes
2 p.m. Webinar: Mold Prevention and Remediation. 1 hour.
3:15 p.m. How to Paint Your 19th Century American House Historically. 2.5 hours. Film courtesy of the Ocean Grove Historical Association.
For more information on the films, please call 732-308-3772.
At 2 p.m., a one-hour webinar on “Mold Prevention and Remediation" will be presented by Michele Brown, book conservator at Cornell University.

Learn about the basic types of mold, the environmental conditions that promote its growth in home and library collections, and what to do should mold growth occur. The webinar is designed for people with little experience but lots of questions and concerns.
For additional information, please call Librarian Kim Avagliano at (732) 431-7240 or Gary Saretzky (732-308-3772).

Posted by tumulty at 6:14 AM | Comments (0)
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Morristown mayor to meet with JCP&L over blast under library

http://www.dailyrecord.com
By Minhaj Hassan • Staff Writer • May 8, 2010

MORRISTOWN — Mayor Tim Dougherty said he will be sitting down next week with the president of JCP&L and others to get a better handle on what caused the underground explosion last Monday that has forced the indefinite closing of the Morristown and Morris Township Library.

"We will have a dialogue with them next week," he said.

Meanwhile, plans have begun to raise money to help fix the library.

Eric Inglis, president of the Morristown Morris Township Free Public Library Foundation, a nonprofit group that raises money for various library projects, said he is planning to collect funds to repair the massive damage that the library suffered from the underground explosion.

Dougherty, who returned from a vacation on Thursday, took a tour of the library, which suffered severe damage to its floors, walls, doors and windows. At the end of the tour, Dougherty said he couldn't help but be grateful no one was injured.

"Thank God no one was in the immediate vicinity," he said. "When you see doors taken off the hinges and windows blown out, it tells what great force the explosion had."

Ron Morano, a JCP&L spokesman, said utility officials have not yet been given permission to inspect the building. He said the utility is willing to cooperate with all entities, including the Board of Public Utilities, which was contacted by state Sen. Anthony Bucco's office upon Dougherty's request.

The BPU oversees electrical utilities among other things. A date for an inspection by BPU has not been set. BPU officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Morano said it still remains to be seen if faulty electrical cables were the main cause of the underground electrical bursts.

"There are too many unknowns right now," he said. "We will need to gain access to the building."

Library Director Susan Gulick said many of the library's employees are working out of the county library doing computer work.

She said the crew is persevering.

"The attitude is we've done it before, we'll do it again," she said.
Minhaj Hassan: 973-428-6628; mhassan@gannett.com.

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May 9, 2010

Phillipsburg Free Public Library elicits support from community to protest state library cuts

Wednesday, May 05, 2010
By SARAH M. WOJCIK
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | Town library advocates want legislators to understand how deep cuts in state funding to libraries would hurt patrons.

The Friends of the Phillipsburg Free Public Library launched an initiative April 12 asking members to sign postcards in support of the facility. As of Friday, 1,300 users had added their names to the protest.

A group of representatives from the Phillipsburg library plan to join other state library advocates Thursday in Trenton to protest a 74 percent reduction in state funding.

Interlibrary loan delivery, database subscriptions and Internet access are among the service cuts that most concern Phillipsburg library advocates.

Library Director Ann DeRenzis hopes the neon orange postcards, coupled with the thousands being gathered at other facilities, will catch the attention of local legislators.

"When you dump thousands and thousands into the lap of a legislator, they might see that wow, some people really do care about their libraries," DeRenzis said.

Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget cuts would go into effect July 1. The governor has justified the cuts throughout the state as the only way to rein in New Jersey spending.

Library board President Richard Buralli says the facility's interlibrary loan program is popular. Last year, 1,500 items were borrowed through the program.

"There is no way that we could afford to buy all those books ourselves," Buralli said in a statement issued by the public library.

DeRenzis said the Internet and database access at the Frost Avenue location would hurt Phillipsburg patrons who rely on the library for free access to such technology.

"A lot of people come in to access our computers, read the newspapers and check our want ads," DeRenzis said. "Then again there are not a lot places in the area you could go to. We want to make it easier for the average person out there."

DeRenzis said the state expected cuts, but no one anticipated such deep reductions.

Buralli said the town won't be able to pay the costs for those services without passing costs onto customers or taxpayers.

"If we have to pick up the tab locally, we will lose the advantage of the state's buying power, and it will be a real drain on the local taxpayers," Buralli said in a statement.

Reporter Sarah M. Wojcik can be reached at 610-258-7171, ext. 3631, or swojcik@express-times.com. Talk about issues in your town at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.

Posted by tumulty at 7:12 PM | Comments (0)
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Morris librarians travel to Trenton to protest Christie's budget cuts

dailyrecord.com
By MINHAJ HASSAN • Staff Writer • May 7, 2010

PARSIPPANY — Several Morris County librarians hopped a bus Thursday morning to protest in Trenton against library funding cuts proposed by Gov. Chris Christie.

Many who gathered at the Parsippany Library parking lot to board the bus said the planned 74 percent cut in state funds to libraries will devastate them, because services such as inter-library loans would no longer be covered. Most of them wore white T shirts reading "Save My NJ Library.''

Jayne Beline, a director at the Parsippany Library, said the magnitude of the cuts in such a short time is far too large and is unfair.

"I feel very strongly that the governor's cuts of 74 percent are disproportionate,'' she said. She carried with her several poster boards, one of which stated "The best return on your investments — the public library!!''

Under Christie's budget, which has yet to be adopted, aid for libraries statewide would plummet from $14 million to $3.6 million.

The librarians said residents have relied on inter-library loans to have books and
multimedia items delivered between municipal media centers.

"This is what we consider shared services,'' said Diane O'Brien, director at the Library of the Chathams.

She said her library has loaned 29,760 items the past year.

Residents would still be able to check out books from other libraries, but they would have to travel to the particular library that carries the desired items.

Joanne Herb of the Morris County Library held up a sign reading "74 percent cut is not shared sacrifice.''

"We managed to do a lot with very little, offering lots of shared services and shared purchasing and delivery services that have saved money for municipalities,'' she said before boarding the bus.

Gov. Christie's spokesman, Michael Drewniak, was not immediately available for comment.

More than half of the 55 seats on the bus were filled. The bus was expected to pick up another group of librarians from a Somerset County library before making its way to the Statehouse Annex for the rally.

Other library officials said certain children's programs would also be eliminated if the funding cuts are put in place.

Beline and others added that such research databases as EBSCO could also become unavailable, because the costs of providing that service are negotiated at the state level.

"It would totally dismantle the information infrastructure,'' said Debra Godslavin, a high school librarian.

Before the bus headed off to Trenton, O'Brien said she hoped the rally would get across how important a service libraries provide to residents "from womb to tomb.''
Minhaj Hassan: 973-428-6628; mhassan@gannett.com

Posted by tumulty at 7:02 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Jersey City Spanish library closing due to budget cuts, moving to main branch

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
May 05, 2010, 5:07PM

The Jersey City Free Public Library announced that the Biblioteca Criolla Y Centro Cultural on First Street will close Monday and move to the Main Branch on Jersey Ave. Budget cuts are forcing the closure of another Jersey City library branch.

The Biblioteca Criolla Y Centro Cultural storefront branch at 280 First Street will close Monday and relocate to the fourth floor of the Jersey City Free Public Library's main branch on Jersey Avenue.

Biblioteca Criolla opened in 1972 and is the only branch library in the state dedicated to exclusively Spanish works.

Book returns will be accepted at Biblioteca Criolla’s site on First Street until May 21. The library will open at its new location June 14.

No late fees will be issued during the transition period.

“Recognizing the financial times we are in, and still wanting to provide the most comprehensive Spanish collection and services in Spanish to our loyal patrons, both local and from afar, we believe the new Criolla, now a Unit instead of a Neighborhood Branch, will continue to satisfactorily serve the needs of the Spanish communities,” Assistant Library Director Sonia Araujo, who oversees Criolla, said in a statement today.

The unit will concentrate on providing Spanish services, with a Spanish-spoken children’s story hour.

The library’s Pearsall Avenue branch, which opened in 1981, closed Feb. 28 due to budgetary constraints.

The Main Branch of the library, at 472 Jersey Ave., also instituted reduced hours as of March 1 to cut costs.

Branch-wide, 28 employees were laid off earlier this year.

Posted by tumulty at 6:50 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Save the Cumberland County libraries!

nj,com
cumberland county edition

Saturday, May 08, 2010
Special to The News

A Cumberland County contingent of librarians, library assistants, library trustees and friends traveled by bus on Thursday to rally in front of the State House Annex to protest the governor's proposed library cuts.

Most of the library proponents wore shirts that read "Save My New Jersey Library" or wore red.

Library supporters strongly object to Gov. Chris Christie's proposed 74 percent cut in library funds that would eliminate services such as the Internet, electronic databases and Interlibrary loan, according to Jean Edwards, acting director of the Cumberland County Library., in a press release.

Librarians spoke from many libraries throughout the state about the positive aspects of sharing services that the governor wants to eliminate.

According to Edwards, acting director of the Cumberland County Library, libraries have shared services for years to save tax dollars. It is the shared services that the governor wants to eliminate.

The rally was organized by Patricia Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association.

Posted by tumulty at 6:38 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

New Jersey librarians and residents rally to support library funding

examine.com/newark
May 7, 8:05

Yesterday, the courtyard in front of the Statehouse Annex in Trenton was awash in red t-shirts and handmade signs held by librarians and library supporters. The sizable crowd, numbering in the hundreds, had come to voice opposition to Governor Chris Christie's proposal to cut funding for the state library system as well as to oppose Assembly bill A2555, which would eliminate the minimum municipal funding requirements for libraries that has been in place in New Jersey since 1884.

Michael Maziekien, a librarian at the Nutley Library, said that on his way to Trenton he was trying to think of a Carl Sagan quote that he only vaguely remembered but that he knew would be appropriate for the day -- so he messaged a librarian. Within minutes, he said, he had the quote:

"I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." -- Carl Sagan

Richard Kearney, from William Paterson University's Cheng Library, said "libraries enact democracy on a daily basis" and they are "not a luxury.... This is about priorities and the kind of state you want to live in."

Errol Logan referenced the destruction of the great library of Alexandria by the Roman Emperor in ancient times. Ignorance, he said, had been allowed to take over at that stage of Rome's history. This reference resonated with the crowd. Interestingly, Carl Sagan had something to say about that historic event as well:

"History is full of people who out of fear, or ignorance, or lust for power have destroyed knowledge of immeasurable value which truly belongs to us all. We must not let it happen again." -- Carl Sagan

A few graduate students from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, also spoke. Kelly Tubridy will be graduating in May with a Masters degree in library science. She has always wanted to share knowledge with the next generation, she said, but is now afraid that New Jersey holds no future for enthusiastic young people who have worked towards graduate degrees and who are passionate about education and learning.

Laurie Feistammel, a recent Rutgers' library science graduate, said that New Jersey's libraries already do so much with so little -- but they won't be able to do anything with nothing. Libraries, said Laurie, are examples of sharing services throughout the state, increasing efficiencies, and improving the quality of life for all with little cost.

The rally and the impassioned testimonies in support of a strong library system for New Jersey lasted about two hours. Librarians, residents, and even children stood in front of the Statehouse Annex to speak -- all with the strong support of the cheering crowd. Most participants had come to the rally on buses that had come from all over the state.

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Category:

The Record: Libraries matter

Saturday, May 8, 2010
The Record
Editorial

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN organized the first lending library in 1731. Books were expensive in the 1700s, and only the wealthy could afford to collect them. Franklin persuaded a group of men to pool their money to buy new books. The group would be able to read far more volumes than they could have afforded on their own.

The library opened its doors to everyone in 1742, becoming the Philadelphia Public Library. The library’s motto was: "To pour forth benefits for the common good is divine."
We do not know why Governor Christie has chosen to devastate the budget for public libraries and thrust a knife into the heart of the common good, but he has. He plans to cut state funding a cruel 74 percent, from $14 million down to a measly $3.6 million.

Much will be lost — full interlibrary loan delivery, a variety of electronic databases and 50 percent of direct aid to county and municipal libraries, Staff Writers Karen Sudol and Deena Yellin reported. Plus the possible repercussion of losing federal matching funds, which are based on the amount of state aid. If that happens, Internet access for many municipal libraries and the state Library for the Blind and Handicapped may be affected.

Public libraries, public schools, small businesses, police, fire departments and hospitals, these are the cornerstones of our democracy.

The first tax-funded public libraries began to appear in the mid-1800s, around the same time as public schools. Libraries augmented the schools’ holdings but also enabled a community to continue its lifelong learning, according to Karen Muller, librarian for the American Library Association. America took knowledge seriously and wanted a literate and engaged public to maintain a healthy democracy.

It is no secret that during a tough economy, the number of people who use libraries shoots up. But how patrons use them has broadened. The proposed cuts will thwart readers’ attempts to read and scholars’ attempts to do research. It will also hinder job-seekers’ ability to find jobs and submit résumés, laid-off workers’ ability to apply for unemployment insurance, taxpayers’ ability to get the necessary forms and file taxes and librarians’ abilities to help everyone — funding for staff training is slated to disappear, too.

The public library has become a wonderful kind of authority and refuge, a filter through which the harsh realities of life are softened by explanation and help. And it has also become the public square, where people can gather, hear lectures, learn English, learn to read and talk about books.

"Our libraries are key players," says Patricia Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association.

She is absolutely right.

There is much to bemoan in the proposed state budget. It is a starvation diet out of necessity because the coffers are nearly empty. But by their very nature, budgets reveal decisions about what is important and what is not. Christie has made plain the fact that in this administration, public libraries are not important.

Public libraries are able to offer the services they do by their model use of shared services, an idea much in fashion these days. Libraries buy services, like databases, at a much lower rate because they buy them collectively through state funding. If that money goes away, each little municipal library will pay far more for those databases and will be left to pick and choose what it can afford.

Doctors pledge to care for the sick. Librarians’ work is to care for the mind, which means enlarging a person’s field of learning. These cuts would force libraries to drastically narrow that field and take away benefits for the common good.

No government should ask that.

Posted by tumulty at 7:13 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Library advocates protest latest chapter of N.J. budget

Dailyjournal.com
By JOEL LANDAU • Staff Writer • May 7, 2010

Thirty area residents traveled to Trenton on Thursday to join a statewide protest against proposed cuts to the state library system.

Armed with signs that read "Don't Close the Book on Libraries" and "We Won't Be Shushed," they said they joined about 500 people at a positive, upbeat rally at the Statehouse Annex.

"We were surprised at all the people there to support libraries," said Vineland resident Eileen
Egizi, who noted the most negative comment she heard was that Gov. Chris Christie should spend more time in a library.

Christie proposed a $10.4 million cut in state library funds in the 2011 fiscal year budget. That would eliminate all statewide library programs and services, including Internet access, beginning in 2012 and the ability to share academic databases at all the locations.
The proposal also includes a 50 percent cut in direct allocations for all libraries.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the cuts are the unfortunate reality of the current economic situation, but the libraries were not singled out. They're so large because the state faces a $10.7 billion budget deficit, he said.

Drewniak said the governor is aware of the impact the cuts will have on state libraries.
"It hurts us personally. We wish it weren't so," he said of the impact. "The only silver lining is this economic cycle will end."

Local librarians said they would continue advocacy efforts and ask people to sign petitions at the local facilities before the state budget is adopted.

"Our job isn't done yet," Millville Public Library Director Irene Percelli said.
Gail Robinson, director of Bridgeton Public Library, spoke at the rally and said Christie should recognize how much state libraries share services.

"Why would a municipality share services if they know they'll be cut 74 percent?" she said.

Posted by tumulty at 7:05 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

May 6, 2010

Hundreds of librarians, supporters rally outside State House to protest cuts

Thursday, May 6, 2010
Last updated: Thursday May 6, 2010, 3:56 PM
BY KAREN SUDOL
The Record
STAFF WRITER
0 Comments TRENTON – Several hundred librarians and library supporters from across the state rallied late this morning outside the State House Annex building to protest proposed state library cuts.

The group, which also included library trustees and patrons, voiced strong objections to Governor Christie’s proposed 74 percent cut in library funding that would wipe out services like interlibrary loans and electronic resources.

“It feels like the threats are coming from so many directions,” said Jane Fisher, director of Rutherford’s library who attended the rally. “He’s making cuts that would affect people across the board from little kids to older people who need the libraries to be successful in life.”

Holding signs that said “We Won’t Be Shushed”, “Don’t Close the Book Libraries” and Restore Library Funding Now”, the protestors booed when speakers discussed the proposed cuts and a bill that calls for the elimination of the minimum local funding requirement for public libraries.

The majority of the rowdy crowd wore red garments or t-shirts that stated, “Save My New Jersey Library.”

“We usually do our jobs quietly and effectively in New Jersey but these cuts would virtually eliminate our ability to do so,” said Patricia Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, which organized the rally. “So, we had to speak out.”

Donna Perkosky, public relations and adult programming coordinator for the Paramus library, said the libraries have been sharing services for years - something that would be eliminated if the cuts go through.

“If we can share among our neighbors, we can better spend tax dollars that are given to provide the best possible services to the communities,” she said.

Posted by tumulty at 5:28 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Hundreds of N.J. librarians protest $10.4M proposed budget cuts

nj.com
By Peggy Ackermann/Statehouse Bureau
May 06, 2010, 2:50PM

TRENTON — Hundreds of librarians protested a $10.4 million proposed budget cut at the Statehouse Annex today, being far from quiet as they told story after story about the value of book sharing.

"There’s no shushing," said Pat Massey of Edison, president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians and a South Plainfield school librarian who took a personal day to attend the rally.

Under Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed $29.3 billion budget for fiscal 2011, the state’s libraries would lose 74 percent of their funding with a cut from $14 million to $3.6 million. The loss of state funds also would cost at least $4.5 million in federal matching funds.

Previous coverage:
• U.S. Department of Agriculture offers grants, loans to N.J. libraries facing budget difficulties

• N.J. libraries face Gov. Chris Christie's 74 percent budget cut

• Complete coverage of the 2010 New Jersey State Budget
Gone with the money would be internet services used by a range of people from job seekers at public libraries to children in their schools, as well as inter-library loans that moved 3.7 million items in New Jersey last year.
"It’s precious, irreplaceable resources," said Connie Paul of Freehold, who is the Director of the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative. If libraries had to buy that many books, paying $25 apiece — which Paul said would be cheap — the cost would be $92.5 million.

In addition, a bill in the state Assembly (A2555) would eliminate minimum funding requirements for local libraries and instead allow towns to decide how much money to give.

"And now for my ‘Norma Rae’ moment," one speaker at the microphone said, referring to a scene in the Sally Field movie in which the actress rallies her co-workers to form a union. To cheers and applause from the crowd of about 400, the librarian held up a sign reading "We’re going to fight A2555."

Mary Lewis of Metuchen, a past president of the New Jersey Association of School Libraries and current middle school librarian in Union County, said there’s a fallacy in the argument some make that public libraries can stand in for the loss of school libraries.

"What school libraries do that is different is they teach the children how to take the information and turn it into knowledge," Lewis said. "I can teach 150 kids in a day, and I usually will."

Massey added: "It’s our role to guide them into how to be critical thinkers."

Nina Kemps of Cherry Hill, a retired head librarian of the Rosa International Middle School in the Camden County township, said many people just don’t understand what’s at stake.

"They think that someone else can just check out books," Kemps said. "We do a lot more than check out books."

She said librarians teach students "information literacy" — how to apply knowledge, sift data and look at facts critically. They also work with teachers to design lessons, and they coordinate multidisciplinary projects.

"We support the whole curriculum," said Shayne Russell, a Medford resident and librarian at the Olson Middle School Tabernacle. "We have the big picture because we work with every teacher in the school."

For more information, visit savemynjlibrary.org.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Category:

Washington's local library would be eliminated with merger to county system

Wednesday, May 05, 2010
By STEPHEN J. NOVAK
The Express-Times
WASHINGTON | If the borough were to get rid of its local library and join the county system, it would remove a local cost but also a local amenity, officials said Tuesday.

And taxpayers might end up paying slightly more.

Borough council had been considering putting the choice to voters in November. It did not make a decision one way or the other during discussions Tuesday.

Warren County Library Director Maureen Baker Wilkinson was on hand at Tuesday's council meeting to answer some questions, many of which centered on the fate of the Washington Public Library.

If a merger were agreed upon by voter referendum, the facility at 20 W. Carlton Ave. would be shut down to accommodate the county's limited library budget, Wilkinson said.

Patrons from the borough would have to travel to Franklin or Independence townships or Belvidere for library services, but there are more offerings there than the local library can provide, including DVDs, video games and electronic books, she said.

"There's a lot of services that we do offer," Wilkinson said. "It would cost the residents more money, but that's your decision."

If Washington had been included in this year's county library budget, it would have cost the borough $266,000. The borough is budgeting $261,000 for its library; $270,000 was spent on it in 2009, officials said.

While the borough is looking for ways to trim its 2010 budget, council members expressed skepticism about joining the county library system.

"I would argue that most people that use our library now are probably walking there," Councilman Victor Cioni said, to agreement from the audience. "If it gets moved out of town, I would imagine the local library participation drops 80 to 90 percent."

Borough council in March gave Manager Richard Phelan permission to draft a ballot question that could appear before voters in November, asking them if they would approve of merging the local library with the county system.

Council members at the time made it clear they want to review the effects of such a merger before they decide whether to send it to voters.

There is no cost to the borough to have a question appear on the ballot in November, officials have said, while a special, separate election would cost about $10,000.

Washington first got a library in 1913, when a group of residents formed a library association in the rectory of St. Peter's Church, according to the library's website. After the library changed locations, the borough took it over in 1927.

The current library building was dedicated in 1983, according to the website.

Reporter Stephen J. Novak can be reached at 610-258-7171, ext. 3542, or snovak@express-times.com. Talk about issues in your town at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.

Posted by tumulty at 5:58 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Angry Edison patrons question plans to close library branch

http://www.c-n.com

By LALITA ALOOR AMUTHAN • STAFF WRITER • May 5, 2010

EDISON — About 80 residents — mostly patrons of the library's Clara Barton branch who are angry about its closing — attended a meeting of the library's board of trustees Tuesday at the municipal building. The meeting was loud and contentious at times, as residents interrupted board members who tried to explain why the library branch is slated to close June 30.

Board members cited about $60,000 in needed building repairs and rising annual operating costs of about $100,000 in the face of a 50 percent cut in state aid.
But children holding posters that said "Please don't close the Clara Barton Library. I love my library," appealed to the board and mayor to change their decision.

The biggest gripe among audience members was that they were not notified that the library was going to close before the decision was made by the board.

"We couldn't have seen this coming," library director Judith Mansbach said, noting that the governor released his budget on March 17, cutting funding by 74 percent to libraries across the state.
Residents also questioned what would happen to the township-owned building which housed the library branch and recently underwent major renovations.
"I've been living here a long time. Nothing is done in this town without political overtones," said resident Tony Eggert.

Library board president Sherri Orenberg-Ruggieri said that once the library closes, the building reverts back to the township. She said she didn't know what the township would do with it.
She added that the board is an autonomous body and decided unanimously to close the branch library.

"You can't point at the mayor or council about this, point at the board," she said.
The board receives funding from the state and local governments.
Board members explained that the Edison Public Library system expects to lose 50 percent in state aid this year. Other expected cuts by the state include free databases, Internet connections and interlibrary loan delivery.

Mansbach said the township has not cut the library's budget, but added, "This year we found out that what we pay in pensions and benefits has gone up but town appropriations have not kept up."

Board secretary Lisa Krauze said the library building is badly in need of repairs to fix problems stemming from water damage, including drainage problems, mold and mildew, repairs to the roof and replacement of windows.

She said the board received an estimate of $60,000 for the repairs.
Board treasurer Veena Iyer said the annual operating costs for Clara Barton, not including salaries, amount to about $100,000.

In comparing use of the township's three library branches, Iyer noted that the number of items checked out last year at Clara Barton was 36,330, while the number for the the North Edison branch was 255,628 and the number for the main library was a little over 300,000.

"Basically this (closing the library) is a done deal and they just held this meeting to pacify us but that doesn't work for me," said resident Ida Judis, 73, as she left the meeting at about 8 p.m.

The board did not arrive at a resolution by the end of the meeting. Board members will be meeting with the mayor shortly to discuss the closing, Mansbach said.
Lalita Aloor Amuthan: 732-565-7271; laloor@mycentraljersey.com

Posted by tumulty at 5:50 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

May 5, 2010

Library budget cuts would affect services

njherald.com
May 4, 2010

By SETH AUGENSTEIN

saugenstein@njherald.com

SPARTA -- For the third year in a row, the Sparta Free Public Library unfurled its blue "We're Number One!" banner above its entrance, after again besting the rest of the state on a national ranking.

But the sign might stay in the closet next year.

The library, like its peers across the state, is getting hit by state budget cutbacks. Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget cancels a full 74 percent total funding to the libraries across the state -- meaning millions in savings for the state, while all but upending the way that libraries are now run.

Including this "number one" in the state.

"We understand better than anybody that we're all in this together, but nobody else is expected to bear a 74 percent aid cut," said Diane Lapsley, the assistant director of the Sparta Public Library. "All in all, it's pretty grim."

Interlibrary loan, e-mail and Internet access, summer reading programs, half the money for buying books, and even the possibility of federal aid could all be gone from Garden State libraries in the near future, if the budget numbers pass muster in June.

The situation seems "grim" enough that hundreds of librarians will converge on Trenton Thursday for a two-hour-long demonstration. Patricia Tumulty, the executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, said there was a "perfect storm" of state aid cuts, a newly proposed library funding law and other statewide changes that are bringing the keepers of the books out to the state capital.

"We have to take to the streets like never before," Tumulty said.

"There's not going to be a lot of 'shushing' in that crowd," Lapsley said.

Their target is a new bill before the Legislature, sponsored by Assemblymen John DiMaio, R-Warren and Hunterdon, and Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris. The bill proposes to retract the statute-imposed "one-third of a mill" local library funding from property taxes, and instead leave the funding decisions up to the municipality. The librarians see the bill as a serious threat to the libraries' way of life, which could slash shelves even beyond and below the state budget reductions.

DiMaio did not return a call, although Tumulty said the assemblyman has agreed to meet with the NJLA.

Librarians say their part of the state's bankroll is a bargain for what is offered to every member of the public. Library use has gone up an average of 11 percent, by NJLA counts.

The Sparta Public Library, using all of its $1.2 million budget to supply, replenish and update the 430,000 items that are borrowed from the catalogue annually, garnered the top New Jersey score in the Hennen American Public Library Rating for 2009. The library also finished 18th nationally among its demographic group, too.

However, the reason for the success is also the new financial "irony": The best intentions of keeping the library collection up to date, even dynamic, mean the financial changes hit it quicker and more acutely. (The Township Council also cut back roughly $40,000 in its contributions to the library this year, as it tried to make up some of its shortfall.) There has already been a layoff and reductions in hours; more will come if the extra $100,000 in state reduction is passed by the Legislature.

The "dire" situation, as Lapsley calls it, is not for a lack of patrons. Even on a Tuesday at noon, the Sparta Library is bustling, with young mothers and strollers and little children. There were some older, familiar faces, too. Ellen Mayne, a former librarian herself, said she sees the state's budget cuts as a hit to a public service that sees an increase in use during economic hard times.

"It's a terrible, misguided effort to save money," Mayne said.

Lapsley, who has worked at the library for 17 years, said she hopes the best can remain the best.

"We're proud to put the banner up this morning. We'll leave it up as long as we can," she said.

Tumulty said the budget process could seriously change local libraries, from the shelves and servers, to the books and information found on them.

"We could wake up on July 1 and find our libraries a lot different than they are," she said.

Created: 5/4/2010 | Updated: 5/4/2010

Posted by tumulty at 4:46 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Christie’s proposed 74% cut would

Letter to the Editor
Echoes Sentinel
Published: Apr 30th, 8:40 AM
EDITOR:

First let me assure you that libraries and librarians are very aware of the serious financial challenges that are faced by the state of New Jersey, by our municipalities, and by the people in the communities we serve.

As the economy has gone downhill, we have seen a dramatic increase in library use. Our patrons rely on us for free Internet access, for research materials, for books and DVDs that educate and entertain. Young children participate in storytimes and learn early literacy skills. Schoolchildren use the library to do projects for school. Families attend free programs such as musical concerts, family game nights, and drop-in crafts, and check out DVDs and books so they don’t have to purchase them.

At any given time of day, you will find people reading in the cozy chairs in our magazine area, accessing the Internet on their laptops or on library computers, and browsing the stacks, or borrowing a pile of books or movies.

Public libraries serve everyone, regardless of economic status or age.

One of the things I enjoy so much about working at Long Hill Public Library is that we are a small community, and that means the library staff and I have gotten to know many of our library patrons. I love it when I am able to greet a patron by name as they walk through the door or recommend a good read to someone. Engaging people on a personal level is just one of the ways that we work to ensure that the library is a vibrant and central part of the community and meets the needs of our users.

Because we are a small library with a small budget, we are fortunate to belong to the Morris Automated Information Network (MAIN), a consortium of 34 libraries in Morris County. If someone needs a book that we don’t have on the shelf, we can usually find it at another library in the county and have it shipped here for pickup. And if no one in Morris County owns the item, we can try to get it through JerseyCat, the statewide interlibrary loan system.

However, these services are both threatened under the new state budget that Gov. Chris Christie has proposed. This budget cuts state funding for library services a whopping 74 percent, which is unprecedented since the state’s funding for library services has not increased for almost 20 years.

This $10.4 million in lost funding impacts services critical to library patrons such as interlibrary loan, delivery of library materials between libraries, and access to electronic databases that many people, especially students, rely on to do research.

The new budget also results in a 50 percent cut in state aid to municipal libraries across the state. In addition, because of the cuts, the state will no longer be able to meet its obligation to match federal funding that has already been approved, so all residents of New Jersey are in danger of losing $4.5 million in federal funding for programs such as the library for the blind and handicapped, which serves its 12,000 customers by loaning an average of 35,000 items per month to them.

For over 20 years, statewide funding for library services has enabled New Jersey libraries to benefit from economies of scale and shared services. Libraries loan materials to each other using a shared interlibrary loan service that is paid for by the State Library. Libraries ship materials to each other’s patrons using a delivery service that, because it is negotiated on the statewide level, is cost effective and efficient. Patrons at any New Jersey library can get access to electronic databases for research and business, because the state library negotiated pricing and subsidized the cost so that all New Jersey residents could benefit.

All New Jersey libraries, and library users, have benefited from the shared services that have been funded at the statewide level. These services have allowed even small libraries like Long Hill to expand our reach beyond our four walls, to provide 24/7 access to research tools, and to borrow materials for our library patrons even if we didn’t have the money to purchase it. Now these services are threatened.

If Gov. Christie’s proposed budget passes, without restoration of state funding for library services, the State Library’s budget would be severely curtailed. They would no longer be able to assist local libraries effectively by negotiating and providing the shared services that strengthen all libraries in the state of New Jersey. An unintended consequence of these budget cuts is that libraries will find it difficult to continue to provide all of the services that our library patrons have come to expect. Local libraries will become less efficient and more expensive to run. Because the cost of providing basic services such as delivery will now be borne solely by local libraries, difficult choices will need to be made. There may be less money available for programs or library materials. Some libraries may need to cut hours or services simply to keep their doors open. Many of us will struggle to maintain at least some level of service, although not the current level of service that our patrons expect and deserve.

The Long Hill Township Library just celebrated our 5th anniversary in our location at 917 Valley Road. In that time, our circulation has increased 37 percent. A few years ago we increased our hours on Saturdays to better accommodate our community. We joined the MUF consortium so that our library patrons could check out books in Berkeley Heights, Summit and New Providence. The library holds regular storytimes, special programs for kids and families, and programs that appeal to adults such as musical concerts, author visits, and, most recently, a workshop on how to sell on eBay. We continually strive to do our best to serve the community of Long Hill Township. Unfortunately, if the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Christie are not reversed, we will most likely be unable to provide the level of service we provide now, and that will be a sad thing, not only for myself and the library staff, but also for the people whom we serve and who rely on us even more during difficult economic times.

If anyone has questions about these funding cuts or would like more information they can feel free to call me at (908) 647-2088, ext. 6, email me at director@longhilllibrary.org, or stop by the library.

I strongly urge everyone who believes that libraries are important to their community to contact your legislators and tell them you oppose the 74 percent cuts to state library funding in the current budget.

Information on how to contact your legislators can be found on the library’s Web site at www.longhilllibrary.org.

Thanks for your support, and we look forward to continuing to serve the residents of Long Hill Township.

Mary Martin

Library Director

Long Hill Township

Posted by tumulty at 4:37 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

North Jersey libraries could stop interlibrary loans under Christie's proposed budget

Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Last updated: Wednesday May 5, 2010, 9:21 AM
BY KAREN SUDOL AND DEENA YELLIN
The Record
STAFF WRITERS

Library patrons who want to borrow the latest thriller from another branch or job-hunt on computers could soon be out of luck.

As early as July, Governor Christie's proposed 74 percent cut in library funding could curtail interlibrary loans and electronic resources like databases.

The Bergen County Cooperative Library System stands to be the most greatly affected — two out of three interlibrary loans statewide in 2009 occurred within its system, according to executive director Robert White. Three million items were loaned throughout the state in 2009.
"I would miss that," said Ellen Schaible of Teaneck, while curled up in a corner of the Teaneck Library with a magazine. "I always reserve the more popular books that they don't have on the shelves. I do that at least once a month."

Christie's plan calls for funding to be reduced from $14 million to $3.6 million. The cuts would gut the aforementioned programs and result in a 50 percent reduction in direct aid to county and municipal libraries, according to New Jersey State Library figures.

"We are absolutely devastated," said Patricia Tumulty, the New Jersey Library Association's executive director. "Nothing prepared us to take a 74 percent cut. The elimination of these programs is astounding to us."

In response, the association has organized a rally in Trenton on Thursday and launched a website, savemynjlibrary.org.

'Hard choices'

Treasury Department spokesman Andrew Pratt said many state programs have seen reduced funding.

"The governor has had to make hard choices that affect nearly every single state-funded program and we cannot spend more than we take in," he said. "Many programs will be affected and will be reduced because of the current fiscal crisis we face."
The loss in funds also comes at a time when libraries are seeing a surge in usage due to the economic downturn.

"It doesn't seem quite fair that at a time in which people need us the most, they decide to cut our funding," said Hawthorne Library Director Thomas Frawley. More unemployed patrons are job searching and applying for unemployment benefits on library computers. And families are saving money by checking out books and DVDs instead of purchasing them, he said.
"Our borough is losing money in every department so the council can't help us," Frawley said. "We will have to work with whatever we have."

The proposed cuts mean libraries will also grapple with reducing hours, not purchasing new materials and limiting handicapped services. But the worst loss for most patrons would be the interlibrary loan, Fairfield library director John Helle said.

"The state has paid for it until now and contracted with the delivery service," he said. "The local libraries can't pick up that expense and now people won't have access to the books they want. Many of the people who take advantage of the service are elderly. It's going to be a real loss."
State funds cover the costs of four delivery days for BCCLS members, White said. The members pick up the cost for the fifth day.

Losing the four days would create an untenable situation, he said. "Basically one out of every four transactions involves a patron from one town using another town's materials," he said. "This trend has been going on for 30 years."

But finding the funds to provide the service will be difficult. Four additional days for the second half of this year would cost BCCLS members a total of $80,000. "If we're going to spend $80,000, something else will have to go," he said. "There will be fewer books bought or reduced hours at some libraries."

Costs for patrons

Allan Suarez, a computer professional from Ridgefield Park, said it would cost him extra money if the loan service disappears.

"I just did that," he said. "I ordered a computer book. I'm doing research for work. If that service wasn't available, I guess I'd have to go out and buy it."

Members of PALS Plus, a consortium of libraries in Passaic and Essex counties, have not decided what to do if the funding cuts go through, Executive Director Ruth Bogan said.
"The public will miss [interlibrary loans]," she said. "At this point, they're very used to having a wide choice of materials, many of which come from other libraries."

In Butler, the trade-off for funding the service could be fewer new books for patrons to peruse.
"Our budget would have to be rearranged to provide more funds for that service and then we would probably have to cut back on ordering books," said Margaret Assante, principal library assistant.
Also on the chopping block statewide are database subscriptions like ReferenceUSA, which contains information about businesses and products, which is valued by small-business owners and job-seekers.

Internet access could also be threatened at about 200 smaller libraries because the state cuts would jeopardize access to $4.5 million in federal matching funds that provide the service, Tumulty said.
In Bergenfield, officials are concerned about their children's summer reading club and computer programs that allow patrons to apply for unemployment and search for jobs.
"Our patrons are depending on us during these times for services," said director Mary Riskind. "Once you start cutting back on those services, it impacts the quality of peoples' lives."
Data in high demand

Jim O'Hanlon a teacher at Bergen Community College, said the computer access is in high demand.

"It's important for a modern library to have Internet and databases," he said while at Bergenfield's library. "I come at least once a week between me and my kids to use the databases for research for either work, school or personal use."

Another patron, Dante Crawford, an engineer from Bergenfield, agreed.
"I have a computer at home, but I like to get out and come here sometimes too," he said, adding that he comes at least once a month to the library to use the computers. "I look up a lot of stuff here for research for work or just for recreation. It would be a shame if they cut it."
E-mail: sudol@northjersey.com

Posted by tumulty at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Library Cuts Hurt Everyone

May 4, 2010
http://maplewoodblogs.nytimes.com

By PAMELA ERENS
Pamela Erens is a Maplewood resident, a novelist and a member of Maplewood Library Champions. In this opinion article, she takes aim at Governor Christie’s proposed cuts to the library budget.

A portion of Gov. Christopher J. Christie’s proposed state budget that most New Jersey residents seem unaware of involves drastic cuts to our state library system. In my hometown of Maplewood, even many of the longtime and enthusiastic library users I speak to don’t know that these cuts are on the horizon and what they could mean.

Governor Christie wants to decrease state library funding by 74 percent. What would be the impact on, say, Maplewood’s libraries? Well, just for a start, Maplewood Library could lose its Web site. That means, among other things, that patrons will no longer be able to search the catalog at home. For elderly and housebound residents, this is not just an inconvenience but an impediment to using the library at all.

No longer will patrons be able to use many of Maplewood Library’s online research databases. If the library chooses to start paying for the absolutely essential ones, other important library services may have to be be cut or, alternatively, local taxes will eventually go up to cover these costs.

No longer will patrons be able to get books via Inter-library Loan (ILL). I am a writer who depends heavily on ILL when doing research for my books and articles. Many of the materials ILL makes available are prohibitively expensive for individuals to purchase and/or very hard to obtain. ILL also offsets the unavoidable limitations on the holdings of any one local library. What are libraries for if not to provide access to the printed word?

No longer will blind and handicapped patrons be able to obtain Talking Books and books in Braille. The New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center will cease operations.

Another program that will take a hit is the state-wide Summer Reading Club. The state-wide children’s coordinator position will be eliminated. Governor Christie has talked about the need to consolidate services in the state. The state-wide Summer Reading Club is a perfect example of consolidation, but the governor wants to eliminate it.

Governor Christie’s plan is extremely short-sighted. Few institutions contribute more to their communities, at as little cost, as local libraries. Libraries are places where people of all socioeconomic levels can gather for self-education, lectures, cultural events and skills training. They are places where job-hunters and job-changers can improve their chances of finding employment. They are places where older children can safely congregate after school.

The state supports our libraries in two different ways: through direct funding and through statewide services such as the about-to-be-eliminated research databases. Direct funding has remained flat for the past 20 years. The statewide services cost the state about one dollar per capita. New Jersey libraries are not part of our state budget problem.

I hope that all New Jersey residents will realize what will occur in a matter of weeks unless they take action and write to the governor and their representatives opposing the proposed cuts. An easy place to start is at http://capwiz/com/ala/nj/home. This New Jersey Library Association Web site page makes it easy to send an e-mail or letter to the recipients who matter.

Posted by tumulty at 9:31 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Morristown library explosion damage is worse than expected, may force months-long closure

nj.com
May 04, 2010, 7:40PM

MORRISTOWN -- Damage to the Morristown and Morris Township Library from an underground explosion is worse than expected, and it may remain closed for many months until repairs can be made, officials said.

The stone structure’s original historic section dating back to 1917 on South Street sustained severe damage Monday around 9 a.m. after an explosion ripped through the basement and first floor. Other blasts also took place in nearby manholes under South Street. No one was hurt and the cause of the explosions remains under investigation by Jersey Central Power & Light.

Officials who got their first look today at the devastation inside said it was worse than a similar underground electrical blast in 1994 that closed the library for six weeks.

Morristown Business Administrator Michael Rogers and Fire Chief Gary Desjadon said Monday’s explosion caused the following damage: an 8-inch-thick concrete first floor slab heaved upward and cleaved; walls buckled; furniture was blown apart; interior and exterior doors were blown off hinges; windows were shattered; books and materials were mangled and strewn about and a water pipe burst.

"It’s far-more extensive than I thought. It’s a bomb-like explosion," Rogers said. "All I can say is we are incredibly fortunate nobody was killed."
Library director Susan Gulick, who has worked there since 1985 and became director four days before the 1994 explosion, said, "This is so much worse (than 1994). A big cement floor slab heaved up. Metal doors are all bent like chocolate in the sun. It just makes you sick. I don’t know why the street keeps blowing up, but it’s got to stop."

Subterranean electrical and manhole explosions have plagued Morristown over the years. After manhole blasts in December and February, the Morristown Council demanded that JCP&L discuss the issue at a meeting in March.

Monday’s explosions occurred just as library employees evacuated after seeing lights flicker and a smoking manhole. Firefighters arrived just as the blast blew doors off and shattered windows.

The town closed the library due to the damage. A notice posted on the building declares it "unsafe for human occupation."

JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said Monday there was a "fault," meaning malfunction, of underground wires serving the library and a church next door, but later said it was too early to speculate what caused the blasts.

Then late today Morano said the utility now believes a "cable fault" did not cause the blast because such malfunctions typically may blow off a manhole cover, but would not have caused an explosion that produced as much damage as in the library. He said JCP&L has not yet been given access to the library’s interior for examination, and the utility will hire an "independent expert" to assist in its investigation.

"We’re as interested as anyone else in fully understanding what led to (Monday’s) incident and to determine what steps can be taken, if necessary, to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future," Morano said. "There still remain too many unknowns as to speculate a root cause, including a JCP&L cable fault."

"A cable fault wouldn’t cause the level of damage we’ve seen," he said. "We know our cables were damaged. We don’t know that that’s what led to the events that transpired. We’re not shifting any blame. The investigation needs to be completed."

Rogers said there has been a history of these types of underground incidents. "They’re going to have some explaining to do.’’ he said. "This is not a normal occurrence and we find it unacceptable."

Most of the "priceless" archives in the building’s damaged section may be salvageable, but the library likely will remain closed for "many months," said Rogers and Gulick. It is hoped that newer library wings not directly damaged could reopen sooner.

Posted by tumulty at 6:31 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Phillipsburg Free Public Library elicits support from community to protest state library cuts

Wednesday, May 05, 2010
By SARAH M. WOJCIK
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | Town library advocates want legislators to understand how deep cuts in state funding to libraries would hurt patrons.

The Friends of the Phillipsburg Free Public Library launched an initiative April 12 asking members to sign postcards in support of the facility. As of Friday, 1,300 users had added their names to the protest.

A group of representatives from the Phillipsburg library plan to join other state library advocates Thursday in Trenton to protest a 74 percent reduction in state funding.

Interlibrary loan delivery, database subscriptions and Internet access are among the service cuts that most concern Phillipsburg library advocates.

Library Director Ann DeRenzis hopes the neon orange postcards, coupled with the thousands being gathered at other facilities, will catch the attention of local legislators.

"When you dump thousands and thousands into the lap of a legislator, they might see that wow, some people really do care about their libraries," DeRenzis said.

Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget cuts would go into effect July 1. The governor has justified the cuts throughout the state as the only way to rein in New Jersey spending.

Library board President Richard Buralli says the facility's interlibrary loan program is popular. Last year, 1,500 items were borrowed through the program.

"There is no way that we could afford to buy all those books ourselves," Buralli said in a statement issued by the public library.

DeRenzis said the Internet and database access at the Frost Avenue location would hurt Phillipsburg patrons who rely on the library for free access to such technology.

"A lot of people come in to access our computers, read the newspapers and check our want ads," DeRenzis said. "Then again there are not a lot places in the area you could go to. We want to make it easier for the average person out there."

DeRenzis said the state expected cuts, but no one anticipated such deep reductions.

Buralli said the town won't be able to pay the costs for those services without passing costs onto customers or taxpayers.

"If we have to pick up the tab locally, we will lose the advantage of the state's buying power, and it will be a real drain on the local taxpayers," Buralli said in a statement.

Reporter Sarah M. Wojcik can be reached at 610-258-7171, ext. 3631, or swojcik@express-times.com. Talk about issues in your town at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.

Posted by tumulty at 6:26 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Burlco school board bans book on homosexuality

philly.com
May 5, 2010

By James Osborne

Inquirer Staff Writer

A Burlington County school board voted Tuesday night to pull a book depicting teenage homosexuality from its high school library shelves after protests from a local conservative group.

The Rancocas Valley Board of Education, which oversees a regional high school serving the Mount Holly area, was concerned that the book was too graphic for children, said school board member Jesse Adams.

"We felt, from an obscenity perspective, there were some things our children didn't need to see," he said. "We don't allow our children to curse in school, and we don't think this is something we should be promoting in the school."

The decision drew criticism from the majority of parents, students, and librarians assembled at the meeting.

"It's a parent's responsibility to monitor what their children are reading, not to tell other children what they can and cannot read," said Eileen Cramer, a mother and graduate of the high school.

The controversy began at a school board meeting in March when a group of 18 residents, who later identified themselves as part of the 9.12 Project, a nationwide government watchdog network launched by the talk-radio and television personality Glenn Beck, called for the banning of three books, all dealing with teenage sexuality and issues of homosexuality, said Superintendent Michael Moskalski.

The books are Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology; Love and Sex: 10 Stories of Truth; and The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities.

The board elected to review the volumes after consulting with its attorney, the South Jersey law firm Parker McCay. Moskalski said the firm advised that the school had the legal authority to ban books because of obscenity but not on political grounds.

At Tuesday's meeting, the school board voted unanimously to ban Revolutionary Voices but elected to allow the other two books to remain in the library.

Beverly Marinelli, a member of the local 9.12 group, applauded the decision but questioned why the books were allowed into the library in the first place.

"Where is the oversight on this?" she asked during the meeting.

The proposed ban carried with it political undertones. The national 9.12 group has called for the resignation of Kevin Jennings as assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the U.S. Department of Education. Jennings, who is openly gay, is the former head of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

In past weeks, the school district has received correspondence offering legal advice from national groups including the American Library Association and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a civil-rights group representing gays, lesbians, and people with HIV/AIDS, Moskalski said.

Maryann Lange, a mother of five in Lumberton with two sons at the high school, decided to read the books after hearing about the proposed ban.

She said that for the most part, the stories and material were sensible and in good taste, the sort of thing that might help teenagers struggling to figure out their sexuality. But certain sections of Revolutionary Voices, including a piece about a "gay porn star," Lange said, were distasteful and "without educational value."

"There's a lot of great stories in this book, but the trash they included," she said. "I spoke about it with my son's friend [who is gay] about how we could solve this. Maybe put it in an over-18 section."

One element of Revolutionary Voices that drew considerable attention in Burlington County was a drawing of one man bent at the waist with another man standing behind him. Most took that as a depiction of a sexual act.

The author of the book, Amy Sonnie of Oakland, Calif., said in an e-mail to The Inquirer this week that the drawing was actually a stock image of one man hiking a football to another.

Posted by tumulty at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

May 4, 2010

Explosion at the Morristown library: Fast response by staff probably saved injuries, says fire chief

nj.com
By George!
May 03, 2010, 12:50PM

Kevin CoughlinSMOKING GUN: Smoke wafts from Miller Road manhole, after a blast rocked the Morristown & Township Library. Nobody was injured, probably because library staffers evacuated swiftly at the first hints of trouble, said Fire Chief Gary Desjadon.
When the lights started flickering this morning, the staff at the Morristown & Township Library prepared to evacuate.

They exited the building just moments before an explosion blasted out the front glass doors, displaced a concrete floor slab, and filled the historic structure with acrid smoke.

"Certainly we believe the action they took...fully insured no one got hurt. They should be commended," said Morristown Fire Chief Gary Desjadon.

The incident occurred just as the library was about to open to the public at 9 a.m.; staffers purposely locked the doors to keep patrons out as the situation was unfolding.

Had the episode happened an hour later, busloads with 1,000 schoolchildren would have been parked across the street from the library for a Community Theatre performance, "Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing," according to Ed Kirchdoerffer, general manager of the theater.

By that time, South Street was closed as firefighters, police and utility crews investigated the scene. Theater staff met school buses a few blocks away and turned them back. By lunchtime, South Street was reopened to traffic.

Chief Desjadon said the explosion appears to have been related to a fire beneath a manhole on Miller Road.

The precise location of the explosion has not been pinpointed, he said, though damage to the library's 1917 wing suggests the blast may have occurred beneath the building.

Shortly after the first explosion, manhole covers popped at the intersections of South Street and Miller Road, and South and Pine streets, said the chief, whose department was assisted by firefighters from Cedar Knolls and Whippany.

Frank Somma, Morristown's emergency management director, said "four or five" manhole covers were dislodged by underground pressure.

"It sounded like an M-50 firecracker," Bernie Earls, assistant house manager of the Community Theatre, said of the initial explosion. The theater is directly across South Street from the library entrance.

Bernie said a fire truck was parked above the manhole cover that blew at South and Pine.

Maria Norton, assistant director of the library, was driving in when she noticed smoke wafting from the Miller Road manhole. She called 911 and told the 15 staffers inside the library to get out.

"As we cleared the parking lot driveway, one of the manhole covers blew up," Maria said. "It was a big boom, and made everyone jump. It made us walk a lot faster!"

Then they heard another explosion, from somewhere on South Street, she said.

"It's so scary. Thank God we practice fire drills," Maria said.

Those drills have been frequent since a 1994 electrical incident forced closure of the building for six weeks, she said. She fears that structural repairs may take longer this time.

Manhole covers near the library also blew up in February. Jersey Central Power & Light spent hundreds of man-hours doing underground repairs, along the route of the Morris County St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"We get 800 to 1,000 people a day walking in our doors," Maria said. "They can't blow us up any more. They need to stop blowing up the public library."

Posted by tumulty at 6:58 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Morristown library is damaged by underground explosions

By Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger
May 03, 2010, 7:00PM

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerUtility crews inspect a manhole on South Street in front of the library.
MORRISTOWN -- The Morristown and Morris Township Library was declared a "serious hazard" and will be closed indefinitely after a series of underground explosions shook the downtown area this morning.

Town Business Administrator Michael Rogers said the basement and ground floor sustained significant structural damage; the front doors were blown off and walls and floors buckled. The building, part of which was built in 1917, will remain closed pending an architectural inspection and repairs, he said.

The cause of the explosions remains unclear, said Ron Morano, a spokesman for Jersey Central Power & Light.

"We’re looking at all of the circumstances. We don’t know the exact sequences that may have contributed," he said.

Underground electrical fires and explosions have occurred with regularity in Morristown over the past 20 years. There have been three such incidents since December and in 1994, the library was closed for six weeks because of damage from an explosion.

Though no one has ever been injured, officials fear it’s only a matter of time until someone gets hurt.

"This was a very, very serious incident today. Somebody could have been killed if they were in the library basement or by the door when it exploded off," Rogers said. "It just shouldn’t be happening, and it continues to happen."

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerAn explosion at Morristown library was followed by a manhole explosion nearby.Underground electrical systems such as Morristown’s are not common in New Jersey. Only two other towns JCP&L serves — Summit and Freehold — have them but neither is as extensive as Morristown’s, Morano said.

After an explosion in 2005 caused a daylong blackout, JCP&L spent $6.4 million to upgrade Morristown’s system and promised another $7 million for improvements. Then, after a series of blasts last Dec. 20 on Washington Street near The Green and again on Feb. 28 on South Street near the library, town officials demanded JCP&L explain why they continued to occur.

According to a recording of a March 23 council meeting, JCP&L manager Stan Prater said that in the aftermath of the Feb. 28 explosion, the utility spent $154,000 on improvements, including 10,000 feet of new underground cable and new multiport junction boxes.

"JCP&L is committed to the safety and reliablilty of Morristown’s underground network system and takes the recently experienced cable faults very seriously," Prater told the council. "The company has undertaken a thorough investigation of the manholes and the secondary cables in the network."

Today’s blasts occurred around 9 a.m., just minutes before the library was to open.

Employees said the lights flickering and they could see smoke coming from a manhole at the intersection of South Street and Miller Road.

Maria Norton, the library’s assistant director, said the staff knows the drill: call police and get out.

As the employees hurried out, the first explosion occurred, blowing the doors off the front of the library and shattering several windows.

"Boom. You could hear it," said Norton who likened the noise to a "gigantic firecracker."

Within minutes, there was a second explosion about a block away, at the intersection of South and Pine streets, then a third at South Street and Miller Road.

Morano, the JCP&L spokesman, intially said he suspected the cause of today’s explosions to be "a fault on the underground lines ... serving the Morristown library and St. Peter’s church,"

Later, however, he said it was unclear whether "JCP&L’s cable fault was the cause."

Rogers said JCP&L officials likely would be asked to return to the council.

"We need some real answers and what JCP&L intends to do to prevent this from happening," he said.

The library staff is looking for answers, too.

"We’re concerned about it happening again," said Norton, noting that the library serves 800 to 1,000 people a day. "They keep telling us it won’t happen again, and it does. They’ve got to stop blowing us up. It’s ridiculous."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morristown manhole explosions over the years
Aug. 30, 1990:

An underground electrical fire on Pine Street blew off two manhole covers. No one was injured.

Aug. 17, 1994:

An explosion, caused when underground cables caught fire, destroyed the basement of the Morristown and Morris Township Library and uprooted five manhole covers. The library remained closed for six weeks due to the damage.

Oct. 17, 1998:

An underground electrical fire set off a series of explosions that blew off as many as 10 manhole covers and cut power to most of the town. Utility officials called the incidents an "anomaly."

June 8, 1999:

Electrical circuitry below the streets burst, sparking a domino effect of blasts that sent manhole covers soaring, flames shooting into the air and power outages rippling through the business district.

Nov. 18, 2005:

A failure in a 12,500-volt underground cable near South and Elm streets sparked a blaze that blasted manhole covers into the air and put all of Morristown in the dark all day and into the night. Fifteen buildings were evacuated.

Dec. 20, 2009:

Several underground explosions were reported on Washington Street, between Court Street and the Morristown Green.

Feb. 28, 2010:

Subterranean explosions blast two manhole covers into the air on South Street near Miller Road.

May 3, 2010:

A series of explosions around 9 a.m. blew the front doors off of the Morristown and Morris Township Library on South Street and rocked several manhole covers along South Street, at Miller Road and Pine Street. The library, which had walls and floors buckled and damaged, and several other buildings were evacuated.

Posted by tumulty at 6:54 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Health department closes Orange library

nj.com
By Karl de Vries/For The Star-Ledger
April 30, 2010, 7:12PM
ORANGE -- The Orange health department closed down the city’s library today after it failed to meet a deadline to remove asbestos and lead paint from the building.

In March, the city received a complaint about paint chipping away inside the building, and eventually it gave the library a deadline of April 30 to clean up.

The library’s director, Doris Walker, asked the city to extend the deadline to July so that the library could close down after the end of the school year, a request that was rejected.

In March, Walker, the library’s director for 15 years, said that the building was probably coated with lead paint during its construction or perhaps during renovations made in the 1950s.

The library had first learned of the presence of hazardous materials back in 2003, and has been trying to raise funds for a $1.5 million renovation of the entire building, which was completed in 1901 and is a national historic site. The library had been told by a screening company that conditions inside were safe unless there was construction to the building, Walker said.

Calling the library one of the treasures of the city, Mayor Eldridge Hawkins Jr. called for Walker’s resignation in a statement today.

“(She) has allowed a ticking time bomb to exist at the Orange Public Library for six years,” he said.

Walker declined to respond to the mayor.

The library’s governing board agreed on April 13 to hire Paterson-based Alpine Painting and Sandblasting Contractors for the clean-up project, which is to begin on May 5 and is to be completed around May 26, Walker said.

The project, which will cost the library more than $43,000, will scrape off the lead paint and replace the affected areas with a coat of paint provided at the library’s expense. But the agreement does not include the removal of asbestos, an issue that Walker said would be addressed later.

“[The library] is not going to be 100 percent beautiful, because we don’t have the money to do the project properly,” Walker said.

Posted by tumulty at 6:50 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

May 2, 2010

Save libraries

http://www.northjersey.com
Thursday, April 29, 2010

Nutley Sun

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:
New Jersey libraries are facing a large challenge as Gov. Christie’s budget calls for a 74 percent reduction in state tax dollars for statewide library services.

A 74 percent reduction in funding will eliminate the core services and infrastructure that support a majority of New Jersey libraries, including the Internet, loaning and delivery of collections between libraries, support for summer reading programs for children; databases and electronic resources, and as much as a 50 percent reduction in state aid, which many libraries use to purchase books, computers and audiovisual collections.

My family lives in the Nutley and Montclair. We depend on library services in both towns. My grandchildren and I visit the Nutley and Montclair public libraries often to take out books, DVDs, magazines, and attend programs. Students in towns throughout the state use the homework assistance program offered by their local library.

Furthermore, my family uses library databases at home, and students use the library database after the library is closed by using their library cards.

These services are invaluable to my husband and me, our son and daughter-in-law, and our three young grandchildren. Our grandchildren enjoy visiting the library, borrowing books and returning them to be conservators of the environment.

My family understands that a bill has been introduced to end the formula for dedicated public library funding (A2555.) This bill would eliminate the required appropriation for the funding of free municipal libraries. We implore you to keep New Jersey’s libraries strong and preserve this funding.
While my family recognizes the terrible budget problems that Gov. Christie, the New Jersey Legislature and state citizens face, the answer is not in eliminating services for libraries, which truly serve residents of all ages and stages of life at an average annual cost of $1.19 per person.
Libraries are part of the solution in helping our residents during the economic downturn. It is important to Save New Jersey libraries.

Please check out www.savemynjlibrary.org for more information.

Sally Goodson
Nutley

Posted by tumulty at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Rally to save funds, services for New Jersey's libraries

nj.com

Gloucester County Times

By Times Op-Ed
May 02, 2010, 3:00AM
By Mary Moyer
Special to the Times

The governor’s proposed budget calling for a 74 percent reduction in tax dollars for statewide library services will have devastating consequences to all types of libraries.

School, public and academic libraries are facing elimination of core services and infrastructure, including Internet, loaning and delivery of collections, support for summer reading programs databases and electronic resources. There is a planned 50 percent reduction in state aid, which purchases library materials.

Overall, about $10 million in library programs cut from the budget represents about $1 per person. In Cumberland County, where I am a county library commission member, these losses translate into $50,000 to $100,000 for Internet access, $3,000 to $6,000 for Interlibrary Loan Services, $85,000 for various reference databases, and $19,000 that represents half the library’s per-capita state aid.

These services are organized and offered as shared services by New Jersey State Library to all participating libraries. The state library has been the best governmental example of shared services and, for its stellar efforts, it is now being asked to operate on the same budget that it had in 1970.

Additionally, if the budget cuts go through, all libraries will have to organize and pay for their own Internet access, their own interlibrary loan costs, and their own reference databases. None of these services will function as cost effectively when run by individual libraries.
Families save money by using county library services, and people have had their lives changed by using libraries. They have received educations; discovered opportunities for jobs, hobbies, places to live and explore; and used audio-visual materials. Thousands of residents rely on the county library for Internet and electronic resources for their educational and recreational needs.

In Cumberland, one resident’s comments were: “I love to read and couldn’t possibly afford to purchase the vast amount of material available at the library. I take advantage of the free computer classes to enrich my job skills. The library is conveniently located & the hours are broad enough to accommodate working parents.”

Another stated, “The library has much to offer me as a student. The expansive variety of books aids in research. Also, the wireless Internet is very helpful.”

Cumberland County libraries have banded together to create a network, CLUES (Cumberland Libraries United System) including Cumberland County, Vineland, Millville, Bridgeton and the Cumberland County College. Each library serves its individual community and its individual needs, but they work cooperatively as a group to reduce costs and to further their individual resources. All will be affected by the statewide reduction in library funding.

While recognizing the terrible budget problems that the state is facing, the answer is not in eliminating services for libraries, which truly serve residents of all ages and stages of life. Libraries are part of the solution in helping residents during the economic downturn.

Help libraries by visiting savemynjlibrary.org (a Web site associated with the New Jersey Library Association) and attend the rally in Trenton on Thursday to let legislators know of the importance of library funding for all types of libraries. There will be a bus leaving from the Millville Public Library, which will also stop at the Deptford Mall. Information related to the rally can be found at: savemynjlibrary.org/content/may-6th-rally-trenton.

Mary Moyer is a Cumberland County Library Commission member, library media specialist at Delsea Regional High School in Franklin Township, and past president of the New Jersey Association of School Libraries.

Posted by tumulty at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Letter to the Editor -- Gov. Chris Chrisite's drastic cuts to libraries a mistake, says Allamuchy man

nj.com
By Warren Reporter
April 30, 2010, 3:00PM
Editor’s Note: The below letter is a forwarded copy of correspondence submitted to Gov. Chris Christie.

TO THE EDITOR:

Dear Gov. Christie,
So, it is the tough guy approach again. First, the schools and teachers and now the libraries. What about the “fat cats”? The corporations that dot our landscapes? Are they receiving the same proverbial “bull in the China shop” treatment”?

This proposal, calling for a decrease in library spending, is irrational and muscle must be tempered with intelligent decision making. You are leaving quite a legacy for yourself with your latest budget proposal calling for a 74% decrease in funding for statewide library services. The mentality of one of your cohorts in the legislature, “people don't read books any more," hopefully, has not persuaded you to move in this direction. Suffice to say, the dumbing down of America, promoted for eight years by the Bush Administration, is not a legacy to be proud of.

A library offers more services than just books, which are important in themselves, but a myriad of services to the residents of the state. I sincerely hope that you visit a few libraries before making a final decision. Here, in Warren County, the library is holding on, anticipating a move this fall to a new facility, a former fruit and vegetable stand. Our present library, outside of Hackettstown on Route 46, cannot, even now, accommodate our growing population. Our own community, in Allamuchy Township, Panther Valley, depends on the county library and is experiencing tremendous population growth.

As a retired school administrator in Sussex County, my wife, a retired kindergarten teacher in Byram Township, I am very familiar with the Trenton Bureaucracy, its superfluous meetings, memos and redundant/confusing directives hurled at the school districts and now this insolence of office is spread to the state libraries. I would suggest that you look within "your own house" for a grand spring cleaning and develop a philosophy and means to deliver that builds now and for future generations.
Sincerely,

JOHN (JACK) SISSICK
Allamuchy

Posted by tumulty at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Library braces for state, local cuts

http:www///northjersey.com
Thursday, April 29, 2010

Last updated: Thursday April 29, 2010, 3:08 PM
BY LINA KHOURI
The Montclair Times

One can travel the world without leaving the room.
Dig deep into the past, or discover the future, without rising from a chair.
A local public library can take patrons on many adventures.

But visitors interested in an adventure hosted by the Bellevue Avenue Branch of the Montclair Public Library, will have to book travel only on Mondays.

The smaller of the two facilities is now shut for six days of the week.

The Main Branch, at 50 South Fullerton Ave., is shut on Mondays.

The new hours are paired with staff layoffs, as the Montclair Public Library prepares for reductions in local and state government funding.

Library Director David Hinkley has already laid off four fulltime employees and enough part-time staffers to equal four more fulltime employees.
"I've finished the first round of layoffs. We'll have to see if there will be a second," said Hinkley, noting that further action depends on final budget allocations.

The library is bracing for a reduction of $700,000 in municipal funding in 2010, compared to the 2009 municipal budget. Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget reduces state aid to Montclair to $23,000 from $43,000 given previously, Hinkley explained.

The 2010 municipal budget, as proposed, allocates $3,083,479 for the public library.
In 2009, the municipality allocated $3,783,749.

If Christie's budget is approved, then Montclair could lose delivery of interlibrary loans and access to online catalogs and Internet services, said Pat Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, which launched a campaign, Save My NJ Library, for more government support.

Mondays at the bellevue branch

The closure of the Main Branch this past Monday had one positive effect; it steered some Montclair residents to the Bellevue Avenue Branch for the first time.
Rhonda Smith, a Montclair resident for 22 years, entered the facility, at 185 Bellevue Ave., for the first time on Monday afternoon.

"I knew the school budget had been impacted in the tough economic time, but I never knew the library had been," said Smith, a Glenfield Middle School teacher.
Suzanne Evanswas in the smaller branch with her daughter, Amelia, for the first time in more than a year.

"It's unfortunate," Evans said of the library service cuts. She mentioned her daughter's friends wait for their parents in the branch library, after school. "Libraries are supposed to be untouchable."
First-time branch visitor Dexter Climenson was surprised that budget cuts hit the library.
"With the economy right now, it's atrocious," Climenson said. "The town maybe should step in and see the real needs. The needs are the library."

When asked what spending the municipality could curb, he replied: "I don't know what else to tell you for them to cut."

The response is familiar to 2nd Ward Township Councilman Cary Africk, who said the council is mandated by the state government to reduce spending.

"If anyone supporting the library has some ideas where we can cut $700,000, I'd love to hear them," Africk said. "I ask where can we get $700,000 from, and no one has written me back.
"No one has answers."

Posted by tumulty at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Budget cuts could throw libraries back decades in time

http://www.northjersey.com

Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Parsippany Life
STAFF WRITER
By Lisa Kintish
"Without delivery we'd be thrown back to the 1950s," said Michele Reutty, director of the Rockaway Township Free Public Library, referring to possible elimination of the interlibrary delivery service because of potential state budget cuts.

Reutty and librarians throughout New Jersey are worried about losing 74 percent of state funds if Governor Chris Christie’s proposed budget is passed on June 30.
At present, if a Rockaway Township resident needs a book that is available in East Hanover, there is no need to drive for miles as the book can be delivered to the local library. Take away interlibrary delivery, the person may be out of luck or as Reutty put it, "information delayed is information denied."

For smaller libraries, such as the Boonton Holmes Public Library and Dover Free Public Library, interlibrary delivery is a no-cost way to expand book catalogs.
Another victim of the proposed budget cuts would be databases, for which the contracts are negotiated at the state level and then distributed at no charge for use by customers at all New Jersey libraries.

Jayne Beline, library director for the Parsippany Library explained, "Students use these electronic resources for their school research and business people use RefUsa to gather information about business contacts and similar businesses. If statewide services are eliminated, this would be the cost to our library: Delivery/postage charges for interlibrary loans: $317,227; to replace the databases that we now receive at no cost from the state: $168,507; Email system $3000 plus staff costs; and Loss of state aid: $25,000."

End of cooperatives
Morris County libraries are part of the Highlands Regional Library Cooperative, HRLC, one of only four such entities in New Jersey. The Cooperatives assist local libraries in offering services while keeping down operating costs, but with the passing of the state budget, they may cease to exist.
Joanne P. Roukens, executive director of HRLC, said, "We link more than 2500 member libraries of all types statewide -- public, academic, school, institutional, law, medical, corporate, not-for-profit and library related agencies – in the New Jersey Library Network. Services provided by the Regional Library Cooperatives are funded to the New Jersey Library Network by the New Jersey Legislature and the New Jersey State Library. We are non-profit 501c 3 organizations and funds come from tax dollars. We’ve been in existence for 25 years. Our budget line is zeroed out in the proposed budget."

Roukens added, "The Regional Library Cooperatives help libraries of all types to share resources, combine purchasing power, realize economies of scale, implement new services, collectively access high quality electronic resources, and increase productivity across the state as we train and support New Jersey’s 21st-century workforce. All of this is accomplished with a state appropriation that has not increased since FY1989. We are the definition of resource sharing."
Along with the demise of the library cooperatives will be the end of such services as library delivery, access to RefUSA, Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, all EBSCO databases, Gale Custom Newspapers, and Informe. Also impacted would be interlibrary loan service through JerseyCat, HRLC services for group purchasing, group discounts, and cooperative projects, and HRLC continuing education services.

No more minimum support?
The proposed state budget is not the only concern facing libraries. As it now stands, individual library budgets rise and fall with its municipality’s property values, based on a three-year average. The Equalized Assessed Evaluation is multiplied by .0003333 to get the minimum amount the municipality can provide to support the library. Assemblyman John Di Maio has introduced a bill (A2555) that would eliminate municipal library funding minimums.
Sam Pharo, director of the Boonton Holmes Public Library, said that while he has "full faith" in the town of Boonton to recognize the services the library provides, his concern is that in extreme times of economic pressure the library will be viewed as a "convenient way to close the budget."
Pharo noted that the town may not realize the full impact that would have, causing "damage that will be hard to reverse."

Beline offered, "In Parsippany, we have a mayor and Town Council who are very supportive of the public library. If financial times get tougher and administrations change, the absence of a mandated formula would make it very easy for a mayor and Council to decide to cut the library’s budget, making it difficult to operate."

She continued, "A Parsippany homeowner living in a home valued at $400,000 pays $133.32 per year for public library service. That’s $2.56 a week. If this homeowner or someone in his family borrows one item a month, they are almost doubling their investment. It’s a $10.24 investment versus the almost $20 cost for that item. "

Help in a recession
The budget situation is truly a double-edged sword. The poor economic times that threaten the libraries have also created a great need for these institutions. Patrons rely on libraries for services ranging from job searches to computer training to family entertainment.
Parsippany saw an increase in circulation by 11.7 percent from 2008 to 2009. There were 139 computer classes attended by 824 patrons.

"Some of our citizens do not own a computer and come into the library to complete job applications," said Beline. "One of those citizens was a gentleman applying for a job at Jiffy Lube. Some of these people have never used a PC before and turn to our librarians for help. We also aid those who need to complete their unemployment claims on line."

Beline offered other ways the library helps enrich the lives of Parsippany residents.
"Due to the downturn in the economy, people are looking for free entertainment for themselves and their families," she said. "Our library provides this service. In 2009, we provided 1415 library sponsored programs with an attendance of 29,342. In Parsippany, some of the middle school extracurricular programs are scheduled to be eliminated; and if adequately funded we can provide after school programs for this age group."

The librarians are not being quiet about the situation. There will be a rally in Trenton on May 6 and they have been spreading the word through fliers, bookmarks and their library web sites which offer links on how to become a library champion and how to contact Governor Christie and other representatives: http://capwiz.com/ala/nj/home/. More information can be found at www.savemynjlibrary.org.
E-mail: kintish@northjersey.com

Posted by tumulty at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Working to shelve students' book choices

http:///www.philly.com
May 2, 2010

By Monica Yant Kinney

Inquirer Columnist

Beverly Marinelli seems like a nice lady. She lives in a sunny Lumberton home and owns an adorably obedient Chihuahua mix. She loves her grandchildren so much she sits "right next to them" as they play on Internet sites like Club Penguin.

Regrettably, that's probably the last paragraph of this column Marinelli will enjoy reading.

She invited me over last week to talk about her quest to ban three books from the library at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, but as I explained, people who earn a living stringing words into sentences rarely cotton to those trying to dictate what the public reads.

Marinelli persists, predicting that I'll gasp at Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology, a book Rancocas stocks to help gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender teens - or their straight friends - navigate choppy waters without drowning.

She calls the book "pervasively vulgar, obscene, and inappropriate," citing one particularly explicit illustration of two Boy Scouts watching two men have sex. "This," Marinelli declares, "is the worst."

Shock and awe
Marinelli is right: I do gasp, for a moment, before being overcome with questions about the drawing and context. She hasn't read much of Revolutionary Voices, and I can't find it at Borders, so I call Dee Venuto, the longtime librarian at the Burlington County school of 2,200 students and 22,000 books.

Until recently, Venuto didn't know much about the critically acclaimed collection of frank essays by young people for young people.

"It won the School Library Journal's Adult Books for High School Students Award in 2001," she tells me. "Some of the readings are very difficult and heart-wrenching."

Venuto doesn't offer much more, because that's not her job.

"Librarians are trained to select resources unfettered by our personal, political, social, or religious views," explains the 19-year media center veteran and mother of two. "We serve all the students. We believe in access to all ideas. Students aren't going to tell me if they want to read these books, but they're there if they need them."

Or rather, they were, until Marinelli's complaint - inspired by conservative blogger Gateway Pundit's larger beef with President Obama's openly gay safe-schools czar, Kevin Jennings - led to a committee review and advice from the Parker McCay law firm.

The Rancocas Valley school board will vote on the matter Tuesday night and appears poised to make a no-win compromise by keeping two of the targeted books but removing Revolutionary Voices.

Marinelli and another member of Glenn Beck's 9.12 Project have lodged a similar complaint in Burlington County's Lenape School District. If I had to guess, this so far low-key South Jersey matter may soon blow up; the American Library Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the Lambda Legal Defense Fund all stand at the ready to pounce.

"If that book comes off the shelf, I don't know what will happen," Venuto says, fearfully. "When we start opening those doors, how do we close them?"

The kids are all right

Marinelli insists she's "not a homophobe," just a "normal mother and grandmother" and former township committeewoman proud of her conservative beliefs. In the fall, she demonstrated against "indoctrination" at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington Township, scandalized by a video of pupils singing in praise of Obama.

"We did it," she told the Philadelphia Daily News, "for the children."

Adults always say that but rarely consult the kids - who, let's face it, are far more sophisticated than we were at their age.

Rancocas Valley Superintendent Michael Moskalski tells me he met with "key communicators" about the book battle. Students shrugged off the controversy.

Moskalski says the students told him: "Just because these books are in the library isn't going to cause us to be gay. We have so much access to information, if we want to read something we'll read it."

Even modern teens like old-fashioned rebellion. Ban Revolutionary Voices and I guarantee half the student body rushes to find a copy just for the thrill.

Posted by tumulty at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

Letter to the Editor

TwinBoro news.

Much has been reported about the drastic cuts to public education, but I have seen virtually nothing regarding the even more drastic cuts to library funding. I deeply deplore the cuts to education, but am absolutely appalled by the 74% cut to library funding.

We in Bergen County and across the State of New Jersey are blessed with having one of the best public library systems in this country. These cuts will mean the loss of library services just at a time when they are most needed. It will mean the loss of delivery of library materials from one library to another, the loss of the regional library cooperatives, which supply delivery and so many other shared services, and on top of that, we will lose over $4,000,000.00 in federal funding, because we [the State of New Jersey] have not kept up the "effort" of providing adequate funding.

In addition, the legislators are proposing that the 1/3 mil mandated funding for public libraries by the municipalities be lowered and are also proposing that the New Jersey State Library and its parent organization, Thomas Edison State College, along with the New Jersey State Museum be transferred to the aegis of Rutgers University. The track record for these "shotgun" transfers nationally is poor. BCCLS libraries depend on the New Jersey State Library to enforce the large body of library law to "keep everyone honest". They are also proposing that the semi-autonomous library boards be abolished and the libraries be run by the municipalities. Can you imagine the outcry if the semi-autonomous school boards were abolished is such a manner?

As to delivery, in BCCLS (the Bergen County Cooperative Library System), we deliver over 2 million items from library to library each year. Do you want to have to drive many miles to get the materials you need? .. to use a computer for job searching? .. to have to go back to paying to rent DVDs? All of these free services, plus the invaluable guidance of a professional library expert are available locally and are essential services for all tax payers. As all of who are closely involved with library service know, poor economic times mean a boom in library use: we cannot cut this service just at the time when it is needed the most.

Please let your legislators and Governor Christie know that we cannot support these cuts. New Jersey's reputation in the educational and library communities cannot be destroyed.

Sincerely,

Carolyn R. Stefani, Retired Director, New Milford Public Library

Bergenfield, NJ

Posted by tumulty at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

DiMaio bill, Gov. Christie seek to cut library funds

http://www.express-times.com
Letters
April 15, 2010

Lady Bird Johnson summed it up best when she stated, “No place in any community is so democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has turned his budgetary ax on our state’s library budgets, calling for a 74 percent decrease in funding statewide, which would affect all libraries.
Meanwhile, Assemblyman John DiMaio has taken aim by introducing A2555, which would eliminate minimum funding for municipal libraries (such as those in Phillipsburg, Washington, Hackettstown and Belvidere).

In New Jersey, 170,000 people enter a library every day seeking computers to conduct job searches, access databases for research or simply to relax and spend a day refreshing your soul with a good book. The $10 million the governor plans to cut is little more than $1 per person in state funds. Furthermore, the funding DiMaio is targeting is less than 3 percent of local property tax. For 20 years libraries have been flat-funded, so it’s difficult to fathom that these small programs have caused our state’s financial crisis.

Please take five minutes today to visit your local library and express your interest in signing a postcard opposing A2555, or send an e-mail or letter to our representatives and help prevent the closing of a library door.

ANN CAROPRESE
Phillipsburg

Posted by tumulty at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
Category:

May 1, 2010

Don't give up on library plan in South Plainfield

c-n.com
Commentary

April 28, 2010

For years South Plainfield officials have been struggling to decide just how they should upgrade the borough library. And library trustees believe they finally have the answer — or at least the latest answer — with a proposed new, larger facility to be leased on Montrose Avenue.

The catch is that the site sits in a part of the borough zoned for light industrial and commercial use. So the move would require a use variance from the borough zoning board. During a hearing earlier this month, board members asked the library trustees for a traffic study, noting the lack of sidewalks in the area.

That strikes us as a logical and responsible request. And yet the trustees' president is now reacting as if the project is virtually dead and the entire process may have to retreat to square one.
Whoa, there. One step at a time.

The new site isn't without its critics. Some residents and officials have expressed concern that the new facility won't provide the same access to walkers as the current library, centrally located along Plainfield Avenue. The new site is about two miles south.

So we can understand why trustees president Eric Aronowitz may be anticipating resistance from the zoning board members. He specifically mentioned the tone of the questioning during the recent hearing as indicating to him that the board may be predisposed to reject the variance.
That could prove to be true. But for the moment the zoning board is simply doing its job. Aronowitz said the trustees will continue pursuing approval, but also suggested that other options may have to be sought. And he was already talking about a potential appeal of a rejected variance.

Maybe everyone involved here is just a little gun-shy. Potential solutions for the overcrowded, underserviced library have been coming and going for more than a decade, without success. The borough even bought up two parcels of land near the municipal building with the intention of placing a new library there, parcels officials now want to sell after the library plans fell through.
For now we'd simply encourage the library trustees to maintain a positive attitude and do what they need to do in selling the site as the best available option. Don't let a few doubts derail the entire plan.

Posted by tumulty at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Residents must join the fight to save libraries

Letters to the Editor
dailyjournal.com
May 1, 2010

I am writing this letter in the hope that it may help to spread public awareness of an issue that has recently come up regarding the proposed 2011 New Jersey state budget, and the budget's negative effect on the New Jersey Public Library System.

If they go forward with the budget as is, there will be a 74 percent decrease in funding for New Jersey's libraries, which will have a disastrous impact on the ability of the libraries to continue to provide the public with the services it depends upon.

In the current economy, I've been struggling for some time to gain employment, and I know that many others are currently dealing with similar circumstances. For me, it has meant relying on family for financial support. It also, of course, means not having the money to afford the non-essentials of life, the little things that help to make life enjoyable. For example, although I am an avid reader, I currently cannot afford to go to bookstores and buy books. So in these particularly depressing and difficult economic times, the local library has become the one place I can afford to go for the entertainment, and escape to read a good book.

The library serves not only as a place of learning opportunities, but also a source of entertainment, at a time when these things might otherwise be financially out of reach for myself, and others who find themselves struggling with their current financial situation. I honestly cannot imagine how bad things would beif the libraries were not there and able to offer the services that they provide, particularly at a time like this.

The libraries' Internet access allowed me to access my transcripts and to go back to school, and become a registered medical assistant. For many others, also, the library provides much-needed Internet access, and the ability to complete, and/or furthertheir education and seek employment. Without the help that the libraries provide, even more of us might be out of work.
For all of these reasons, and I'm sure some I may not have mentioned, I strongly believe that we must save our libraries from this potential disaster. They are a vital and necessary part of our communities, and we will all lose if we allow our libraries to lose their state funding.

Mary-Ann Maronski
Berlin

Posted by tumulty at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Glen Rock library patrons urged to attend May 6 rally

http://www.northjersey.com
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
BY KELLY EBBELS
Glen Rock Gazette
STAFF WRITER

At a meeting at the Glen Rock Public Library on Monday night, librarians called on residents to protest what they called the massive cuts proposed to New Jersey’s libraries in Governor Chris Christie’s 2011 budget.

Speaking to an audience of about 30 people gathered in the main space of the library, Librarian Laurie Feistammel and Library Director Roz Pelcyger explained that libraries are facing a two-pronged threat. First is a proposed cut of 74 percent of funding for library services, equaling more than $10 million in cuts. Second is the proposition of Bill A2555 in the State Assembly, which, if passed, would eliminate the minimum requirement for local library funding.
"Together, they represent a very serious threat to the existence of and continuation of New Jersey libraries," Feistammel said.

The $10.4 million in cuts include all of the funding for databases ($1.5 million), network aid ($4.3 million), virtual aid ($1.17 million) and per capita state aid ($3.5 million).
Feistammel pointed out that this money represents only about $1 per capita, and compared to the $10 billion budget shortfall facing Trenton, "$10 million is very small in the grand scheme of things," she said.

Library officials said the proposed cuts would deal a major blow to the delivery systems in place across New Jersey. The Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS) delivery service currently receives 80 percent of its funding from the state and 20 percent from member libraries, and the loss of state funding would almost certainly bring an end to the program.
Feistammel argued that since many books are expensive, the InterLibrary Loan system allows libraries to share their content, thus staying more efficient.

"The funding that’s being cut will reduce our efficiency, and will really cripple our ability to make the best use of the funds we have available," she said.
Many library databases, such as RefUSA, EBSCO, Business Source Premiere and Academic Search Premiere, would also be shut down.
"These are resources that students are using for their schoolwork," Feistammel said. "They are resources business owners are using so that they can get their businesses off the ground. They are well used."

Cuts would also be made to JerseyConnect, an Internet access and Web hosting service. More than half of the libraries in the state would lose Internet connections, staff e-mail and website hosting services. The Talking Book and Braille Center, the library for the blind and disabled in Trenton, would cease operations in June 2012.

"We’re talking about audio books, we’re talking about read-aloud radio services, we’re talking about Braille. All of that won’t be supported anymore," Feistammel said.
Finally, she said, the cuts would cause New Jersey to lose $4.5 million in federal funding.
"To lose that $4.5 million, on top of the state funding that’s being cut, is huge for New Jersey libraries," she said.

Local cuts?

In addition, Assemblyman John DiMaio has introduced bill A2555, which would eliminate the minimum funding requirement currently in place for libraries at the municipal level. Feistammel said that currently, for every $1,000 of local property taxes collected, a local library gets 33 cents.
"This typically represents less than 3 percent of local property taxes," she said.
Feistammel argued that if this bill were to become law, libraries would be devastated.
"If this goes through, not just in Glen Rock but across the state, you will see reductions in library hours, you’ll see fewer materials on the shelves, you’ll see less programming. You’ll probably see some libraries close altogether," Feistammel said. "If this law passes, personally I believe this would be the end of New Jersey libraries as we know it."

Rally planned

A rally organized by the New Jersey Libraries Association is being planned for Wednesday, May 6, and Feistammel and Pelcyger encouraged the audience to attend.
"If people don’t really yell and scream about this, if they don’t tell people how much they love their libraries, then these cuts are going to go through, and it will tear apart the foundation of the structure of libraries in the state," Feistammel said.

A free shuttle bus will be leaving from Garden State Plaza in Paramus that morning. Pelcyger said more information about the bus’s departure would be forthcoming.
Feistammel and Pelcyger also encouraged everyone to contact their legislators, which could be done by going to glenrock.bccls.org.

Glen Rock resident Connie Otten said after the meeting that she depended on the borough’s library, and had already contacted her legislators to protest the cuts. "
I absolutely deplore what’s happening," Otten said. "I don’t think people are taking this seriously enough. This is devastating."

Feistammel argued that the proposed cuts to library funding were counterintuitive, since with the economic crisis, people were using their libraries more.
"Due to the economy and the tough times people are facing right now, people are coming and are using our services more than ever," she said. "Libraries are seriously under fire in a time when we are seeing our circulation go through the roof."

"If you use your libraries, if you love your libraries, if you value the services that they provide, then this is a time when New Jersey libraries desperately need friends," Feistammel said. "Now’s the time that libraries need the support of the people more than any other time in library history."
E-mail: ebbels@northjersey.com

Posted by tumulty at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Defeat bill that can harm local libraries

Letters to the Editor/Gloucester County Times
nj.com
April 30, 2010

To the Editor:

With all of the media attention to “cuts” in New Jersey, there has been little notice about Assembly Bill 2555, introduced by Assemblyman John DiMaio, R-Warren.

A-2555 proposes the elimination of the minimum local funding requirement for municipal public libraries. These libraries were established at the direction of citizens through a binding referendum which specified the minimum funding level at 1/3 of a mil ($33 per $100,000) based on the total value of property “ratables” in each community. This funding formula has endured for more than 100 years, providing a stable source of tax support for municipal library services.

Passage of A-2555 would critically weaken the foundation of library services in New Jersey and would result in the demise of a great many of our local facilities.

The fiscal hardships facing many residents and businesses in today’s economy makes access to key information services available in the libraries vital to survival.

Library users desperately need computer technology provided for everything from homework to job applications. Believe it or not, people still read books and magazines, to say nothing of their opportunity to borrow DVDs and audio aids. Libraries provide services important to family life, from story hours for toddlers to advice needed by senior citizens — those all-powerful voters!

According to the New Jersey Library Association, approximately 170,000 people visit New Jersey public libraries on any given day. In 2009 there were 48 million visits made to libraries in our state, demonstrating that these facilities are supported and valued by residents.

Not everyone has a computer at home. Not everyone can afford to buy books and periodicals. Not everyone has an item in their budget to purchase DVDs or audio tapes. Do we miss out on this wealth of learning material, or do we take a trip to the local library?

Trustees of many public libraries in Gloucester County have adopted resolutions opposing A-2555. This is a bandwagon which is well worth boarding.

Many people concerned about the health and survival of our local libraries plan to demonstrate in Trenton on May 6. Let’s hope this will attract media attention.
GRACE M. WILLIAMS
President
Board of Trustees
Westville Public Library

..

Posted by tumulty at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
Category:

Hoboken teenage readers protest proposed budget cuts to public library

nj.com
By Mark Maurer/The Jersey Journal
April 28, 2010, 2:02PM

John Yarosh, a seventh-grader at Elysian Charter School, orated to his classmates Wednesday from the Church Square Park gazebo about his concerns that proposed statewide budget cuts may doom the Hoboken Public Library.

“If they cut books, what are we going to get our knowledge from?” Yarosh asked the group of sixth, seventh and eighth graders on the benches and near the grass.

“X-Box 360!” someone shouted.

The Hoboken Public Library organized an open mic for the teenage students of Elysian, Hoboken Charter School and Hoboken High School to speak their minds about the importance of having a library in town. Students had the chance to read passages from their favorite books, and read samples of original writing and opine on the necessity of research and reading.

Lina Podles, library director, said she fears the state’s waning support of public libraries will affect the delivery systems that ship books to 75 other libraries and throughout the state.

Governor Chris Christie's proposed budget cuts decrease library funding by 74 percent. According to the New Jersey Library Association, the cuts eliminate the follow: Internet access and electronic journals in hundreds of libraries, the delivery of materials by 3 million items and 50 percent of state aid to public libraries.

“If these budget cuts take effect, the state budget for libraries would be scaled back to the year 1970,” Podles said. She said she does not have a solution for funding research engines like Ebsco and maintaining a delivery system if the library were to face serious cuts.

Podles said the goal of the event was to demonstrate how teens love the library and need it as a valuable education resource. She hopes this generates greater support for the library in difficult economic times.

“I don’t live here, but I read books here,” said Wendy Ide, 12, of West New York. “They shouldn’t cut the funding.”

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Monmouth County Library's budget cut by $6M

app.com
April 30, 2010

A closer look at the Monmouth County Library Commission's books — not those on the shelves, but the accountant's books — has led to good news for taxpayers, with significant budget and tax levy reductions.

Pressure by the county Board of Freeholders prompted the semiautonomous commission to cut its annual budget by $6 million and reduce its tax levy by $430,000, putting the levy at the same $12.15 million used in the previous year. The freeholders approved the new levy April 22.

The changes followed weeks of pressure from Democrat Amy Mallet for stepped-up scrutiny of the library budget. The freeholder board's finance director, Craig Marshall, found that the commission was stockpiling excessive surplus funds — with enough money in its rainy-day fund to run operations for nearly an additional year. Marshall also uncovered budgeting for unneeded items and overbudgeting for other purchases.

However, the changes escalated a turf war between Mallet and Republican Lillian Burry, liaison to the Library Commission.
Burry, who is board director, did not acknowledge Mallet's role in spurring the inquiry when she first announced the budget changes in a press release.

Burry again overlooked Mallet's role during comments Burry made at public meetings April 22.
In the past, Mallet accused Burry of obstructing closer looks at budgets of several county departments. Burry had been the lone holdout among the five freeholders when the library review was authorized.

"It was two months ago that we held our budget hearings for each of our departments. At that time, I asked some very direct questions regarding certain line items which appeared out of line in the county library budget," Mallet said.
"Asking questions opened the door to more questions; for instance, why were we not seeing even one line item reduced from last year?"

"At that initial meeting, I, along with my colleagues, asked if they could amend the budget to reflect the same commitment to fiscal discipline that other departments in the county have worked so hard to achieve. Unfortunately, that did not happen, that is, until the majority of my colleagues sent the budget back at our last meeting," Mallet added.

Republican John Curley also voiced concerns, saying: "As a businessperson, I know that you don't ask for more money up front than what you need. That's irresponsible. They bloated their budget by more than $6 million. I'm glad it's back in line."

Burry said the library commission, at her request, is forming a budget panel, with three commissioners charged with planning future expenses.

"The Monmouth County Library System is the largest and best lending library in New Jersey," Burry said. "When directed to look at the budget more closely, Mr. Marshall brought to my attention the fact that there is a better way to craft a budget than had been the library's practice the past several years."
Burry said the budget changes will not impact programs or services.

The library system is a semiautonomous agency operated by a seven-member library commission appointed by the freeholders, with the tax levy affecting only member towns. Other towns have their own libraries or participate in local shared services.

Marshall said the primary budget changes include an increased use of surplus funds, the removal of line items such as more than $40,000 for an unneeded van and the reduction of travel expenses.
Bob Jordan: 732-308-7755; bjordan@app.com

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