Tensions run high as library vote nears
WOODSTOCK, N.Y. >> The Nov. 6 proposition to dissolve the Woodstock Library District seems to have the same tension, animosity, and suspense as some novels on the institution’s shelves.
Both sides have taken to calling the other’s contention of what happens under dissolution to be dishonest, though the actual decision about the question being asked of voters is otherwise simple.
The entire proposition states: “Shall the library district be dissolved and terminated?”
The district was established in 1989.
Residents who object to a $5 million proposal by the library board to demolish most of the existing structure and construct a new facility filed a petition to essentially demolish the board. It is latest in a series of construction proposals that has brought controversy to a building that is suppose to be dedicated to learning in a town that contends it is committed to peace.
“(Opponents) didn’t like the 2007 (proposal) that they voted down 5 to 1,” opposition organizer John Ludwig said. “They didn’t like the 2013 annex thing and they don’t like the current plan, and that comes out in the survey from last year where only 29 percent of people supported building a new library.”
Ludgwig said the board has not demonstrated the ability to understand that library users want to have the building saved.
“What we need is the right building plan,” he said. “For one thing, we think the library should be renovated ... and we support an expansion because there’s plenty of room in back to build 6,000 or 7,000 square feet, which would double the library.”
Under the library board plan library space would increase from its current 7,841 square feet to about 15,000 square feet.
The disconnect between the sides over the need to dissolve the district comes when Ludwig says the board has not listened to residents.
“The board has been completely disinterested in entertaining any other options and that’s why we’re upset,” he said.
Library board members contend there have been dozens of meetings involving focus groups, planning sessions, public hearings, and public comment during regular meetings in addition to taking website feedback, accepting letters and emails, and the survey.
Board Trustee Jill Fisher said proposals from opponents have been considered and was one of the reasons that consultants were hired. She said it was a fiscal responsibility to get information from professionals about the costs of renovating the existing library.
“If our consultants would have said ‘you can do that’ I would have said ‘great let’s do it,” she said.
“We try to do what makes sense financially and logistically for the long term future, not just for a Band Aid solution,” she said. “This idea that the board hasn’t been listening is really a sad thing to have to contemplate since we went through the full fledged ... public input process with our master facilities plan.”
The most significant disagreement over the library’s fate under dissolution is the opponent’s contention that it would be taken over by the Town Board as the “most likely assignee” responsible for incorporating a new library as a public system.
“Trustees will be appointed by the Town Board,” library opponents wrote on their web site. “The director and staff will not change. Library personnel will enjoy the same benefits as town employees
Library board members have said promoting the Town Board as a “likely assignee” is misleading the public and that there are no current Civil Service designations for library position, which could mean the staff will be out of their jobs.
Library trustees also note it will be entirely up to the existing board to determine if the library becomes a school district library, an association library, or is turned over to a local government entity that could possibly be the Town Board.
“We looked into (the school district option) and Woodstock is covered by three different school districts,” Fisher said. “That makes it virtually impossible to do.”
If the board chose to form an association library, which would be considered a non-profit entity and chartered by the state Board of Regents, the current trustees could also designate themselves to assume the leadership role.
Fisher said the benefit of the taxing district is having voters determining the level of funding used for library budget and given them the opportunity to vote directly on board members. She notes that will be lost if the district is dissolved.
“If it goes to the municipality all bets are off as to what funding will be from year to year and that’s the reason it was passed in the very beginning,” she said. “If we lose that special library district then it will be a big fight every year to figure out how we’re going to pay for staff and books and all the rest.”