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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.

Posted by tumulty at May 27, 2010 3:30 PM

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