Library board president thankful for support from community

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. >> The Woodstock Library board is ready to start a new chapter in the life of their facility now that voters have rejected a proposal to dissolve the library district.

The vote on Tuesday was 1,142 in favor of dissolving the taxing district and 2,067 opposed.

Plans for the library’s future are expected to be discussed during a meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, in the library, 1 Library Lane, off Tinker Street.

Board President Dorothea Marcus said the vote result allows the continuation of the effort to expand the building.

“We library trustees are very grateful that the community wants the Woodstock Public Library District to continue,” she wrote in a press release.

Marcus acknowledged, though, that the “entire referendum was divisive” and said the board hopes the community can support plans for a new building.

“Now we’re thrilled to be able to return to work, to making the best library for the people of Woodstock by acting responsibly, thoughtfully and with vision,” Marcus wrote.

Expansion opponent John Ludwig, a co-organizer of the referendum to dissolve the district, said the vote result shows there isl substantial opposition to the board.

“We got a 36 percent ‘yes,’ so we established that more than a third of the voters want a change in a leadership of the library,” he said.

Dissolution supporters objects to the board’s plan to replace the 7,800-squarefoot current facility with a building almost twice as large that would cost an estimated $5 million. The board members have been considering three proposals for a new building, submitted by Ashokan Architecture of Kingston, Argus Architecture of Troy, and Stephen Tilly of Dobbs Ferry.

The plan submitted by Ashokan Architecture calls for a building with a 7,960-square-foot first floor comprising a conference room, computer area, staff work room, open seating areas, children’s areas, and a presentation room for between 36 and 100 people. The 6,440-square-foot second floor would include classrooms, an art room, a common area, the director’s office, a computer and media lab, and a staff room.

Argus Architecture provided two options that would provide either 13,775 square feet or 12,650 square feet of space. Under both plans, the first floor would have a children’s room, study area and teen area, while the second floor would have an art room, archives area, conference room and presentation center.

Tilly proposes to have 8,670 square feet on the first floor with a computer and video area, a children’s room, a history and archives room, a 75-seat presentation room, a conference room, and a storage area for the annual library fair. The 6,320-square-foot second floor in Tilly’s plan would have an art room, computer collaboration room, teen room, creative space area, four classrooms, director’s office and staff room.