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Passaic Assesses Plan to Close Aging BranchAt what board President Craig Miller characterized as a “raucous” three-and-a-half hour meeting February 27, the Passaic (N.J.) Public Library board of trustees received community input on a plan to close its 104-year-old Reid Memorial branch, which specializes in services to the city’s Hispanic residents. Library Director Alan Bobowski told residents that the building has a leaky roof that would cost $150,000 to repair, a crumbling foundation, and an upstairs meeting room that’s not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Miller added that its annual utility costs were about $24,000, the West Paterson Herald News reported February 28.The plan would move the branch’s children’s collection into an 850-square-foot billiard room on the second floor of the Passaic Boys and Girls Club, over a mile away, which would only be open to children and parents. After the meeting, Miller stressed that “We will not be closing children’s services,” and told American Libraries that such an act “would be over my dead body.” After officials presented the plan, audience members responded critically. “Although I appreciate the position you’re in, I do worry about the message it sends to children whenever we close a library,” said teacher Julie Skolnick. “This is a disservice to children, as far as I’m concerned.” Miller told AL that the board has set up a committee of bilingual trustees to look at the plan in light of concerns voiced by residents, who worried that the Boys and Girls Club would be too noisy for use as a library and whether expanding hours at other branches would compensate for the loss of Reid’s adult services. Miller said the library retains the option of keeping Reid open, declaring, “Nothing is on or off the table.” Over the past three years, the city has cut or flat-funded the library’s budget, necessitating such cost-cutting measures as leaving the 5-million-volume Bergen County Cooperative Library System in favor of the smaller Passaic County interlibrary loan service. This year the library’s city funding was $1.1 million, some $200,000 less than operating costs. The city also rejected the library’s application for funds from a Community Development Block Grant to repair the branch. The Reid building also houses the American Hungarian Museum—the city’s only museum—on its second floor. Miller said in the March 1 Herald News that he had given no thought to contacting the museum while planning the library’s closure, stating, “In my three years as chair, I’ve had no interaction with them.” The board plans a special meeting to be held at Reid that will allow residents to comment further on the plans; Miller said no date has been set. Posted March 2, 2007. |
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