Library seeking ideas from public
Rosendale facility needs more space for programs, parking
ROSENDALE — The Rosendale Library has long outgrown its cramped building on Main Street. In order to function as a modern library and meet the needs of its community in Ulster County, it needs a larger facility and more parking.
But the question of what it should do about its lack of space has proven tough to answer. Options range from adding on to its existing historic home or moving out entirely, something some residents have expressed mixed feelings about.
The library’s board is turning to the community for ideas. It held its first public session on Thursday to hear directly from its patrons about what direction to take.
Although housed in a beautiful, historic building — the All Saints’ Chapel built in the 1870s — the Rosendale Library at 264 Main St. is contained to a single, 1,300-square-foot room. It’s one of the smallest library buildings in the midHudson Valley. There isn’t enough space for storytelling in a dedicated children’s room. One bathroom serves the whole building. And there is no community room for programs the library offers its more than 3,000 patrons throughout the year.
Some residents suggested adding a building connected to the property or using other public meeting rooms in Town Hall or the community center for programs and events. The parking lot offers eight spaces plus one accessible parking space for people with disabilities. It fills up quickly for programs, often resulting in cars parked on the shoulder of Central Avenue.
“Parking is an issue up and down Main Street,” Rosendale Town Supervisor Jeanne Walsh said during Thursday’s session. Walsh is working with the state Department of Transportation to come up with a solution for the lack of parking on Main Street, which she said would also help the library. Library Director Katie Scott-Childress said the board “has been grappling with the issue of the size of the building” for more than 20 years. Expanding the structure would be a costly endeavor with limited options since the building is on the state and national Registers of Historic Places. The small, oddly shaped parcel the building sits on compounds challenges to expand.
Scott-Childress estimated the building could fetch $600,000 if the board chose to sell it.
The board considered purchasing the Belltower Venue, at 398 Main St., but that option is off the table.
“We were in an exploratory phase that got out of hand,” Scott-Childress said.
“There were misunderstandings,” she said. “There was divisiveness starting to crop up, people becoming uncivil on social media.” The Belltower Venue is listed for sale at $1.5 million, with several rental units that generate $43,000 in annual income, according to Scott-Childress. Built in 1896 by the Dutch Reformed Church, the spacious nave and guest hall — a 2,500-square-foot space able to accommodate 120 — was used as a glassblowing studio and later an events venue owned by Louis Sclafani since 1985. At the Dec. 14 Town Board meeting, Scott-Childress asked for a letter of support to supplement a grant application. She also asked the board to consider funding up to 20 percent of the project. She said the library researched possible grant funding and low-interest loans. The first phase of capital costs for moving the library to the Belltower was estimated by the library board to be $182,000. When Scott-Childress addressed the Town Board, deadlines for submitting letters of support and the grant application were days away. The board said there wasn’t enough time to put the option out for a public vote and draw up a bond resolution. At the December meeting, Scott-Childress said she was not averse to a public vote, but stated she did not think a vote was required. Walsh said board members
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“felt strongly that we were not prepared to support something that did not fit with what our legal counsel was telling us was needed in order to go forward.”
“(The Town Board) is the authority that does the bonding and there are a few steps that have to be taken, including a public vote,” Walsh said. The Town Board also said the library’s request lacked the backing of a feasibility study and State Environmental Quality Review. “It wasn’t that we didn’t support the library; it’s that we need the proper documentation and process to happen,” Walsh said.
“If and when the library moves forward with a capital project, there will be a public vote on any public funding requested,” library board member Rose Unes said during Thursday’s session.
The board plans to respond to residents’ comments after all listening sessions have concluded. Two more inperson sessions are scheduled for 3 and 6 p.m. Monday, at the library. Attendees must register in advance.
Unes said the board will host more listening sessions if the public requests them. Upcoming sessions, capped at 15 registrants each, already have waiting lists.
“The library is about bringing people together, shared learning and seeing what good we can do when we pool our resources for the common benefit,” Scott-Childress said.
“Clearly, there’s no easy answer. We want to listen to what the community has to say.”