Marlene writes “ Citing budget constraints and staffing shortages , the Finance Committee of Williamsburg Public Libraries, temporarily (but indefinitely) closed one of the it’s libraries, Hayenville Public Library.
The closing came as a surprise to local government officials that had thought an extra $3,500 in the budget would be enough to keep it open. Eric Cerreta, who chairs the Board of Selectmen, said that he would rather see hours cut at the neighboring Meekins Library than see the Haydenville Library shut down.
“It was supposed to remain open,” said Cerreta. “I don’t understand how we got here. Both of those libraries existed for 100 years on a tiny budget and volunteers.”
The library system recently finished the renovation of the Meeksville Library , with over $1,000,000 in private and foundation gifts collected, as well as over $1,000,000 in public funding.
In a twist of fate, Haydenville Library
had been visited by 16 librarians from the Republic of Georgia , formerly of U.S.S.R., participating in a cultural sharing program in January. The program, sponsored in part by the Institute for Training and Development , was designed to help Georgian librarians find innovative ways to run libraries as they face harsh economic times in their own poorly run democracies.”
WOW! $3500.00 whole dollars?!
That should have kept that library open, fer sure.
As for all the volunteers that kept the place running for a century:probably now there are not a lot of people willing to be free librarians after they get cursed at by a disgruntled patron, in a fistfight over an Internet terminal, expected to babysit for free, and told by a grateful public, “I pay your salary!”, all the while being expected to deliver total information on a topic in about three seconds, organized and explained (and hopefully typed up neatly).
Good luck, dinky library, and the idiots who run it. This ain’t Kansas anymore. Libraries and qualified staff cost bucks.