Middletown Township Public Library Meeting

As promised here is the video of Wednesday night's Middletown Library Board of Trustees meeting



And here is a rundown of what was discussed during the meeting and how the Library Board of  Trustees voted on closing the satellite branches of the library submitted to me by someone who was in attendance Wednesday night:

The Bayshore branch will no longer operate as a library but will still have computers and copiers to accommodate residents who are still struggling after Sandy. Middletown Township owns the building and will likely move offices there. Some materials will be brought back to the main branch and the remaining materials then offered to the elementary schools nearby.

The Navesink Branch will remain open on a limited basis under the control of the Duryea-Navesink Library Association---it seems they will operate like a reading room with volunteer staff, and the materials will remain at the branch until the Duryea-Navesink Library Association asks the Library Board to remove them. Other details were not discussed. The Association are determined to reach their 100th Anniversary celebration.

The Lincroft branch will close and the property returned to the Board of Education. Maintenance issues and upgrades were cited as the reason for closure by the Board.

The concessions given to the Lincroft and Navesink communities by the Library Board are:

• 1. The Navesink collection will remain mostly intact, but the computers will be removed. After moving some materials to the main branch, they would allow the Lincroft Elementary teaching staff to pick out materials from the Lincroft Library and offer some items to Luftman Towers and senior centers.
• 2. A 4th and 5th grade library training program will be initiated through the schools, either at the library or via internet
• 3. The preschoolers will have Story time for 6-8 more weeks at the branch if the library can find a volunteer among their staff to provide this service.
• 4. The book drop will remain open until May 1.

The votes to adopt the budget which included the branch closures were 5-2 as follows:
Siebert - YES
Nelsen - YES
Vitkansas - YES
Siwiec - YES
Monaghan - NO
Wilson - NO
Breen - YES (She said her heart wanted to vote No, and she asked if she could abstain, and she eventually voted YES)
Cordiano, Mayor's appointee - ABSENT (He knew at the January 16th Library Board meeting that he would not be in attendance tonight, and on that night I asked him to request that Dr. Scharfenberger attend this meeting.)
Convery - RESIGNED; Resignation letter submitted a week after the January 16th Library Board meeting (announced tonight, not prior to the meeting).

Mr. Monaghan showed tremendous courage before the vote by asking what savings could be derived from cutting back hours at the main branch, perhaps by closing Sundays (as in the summer). He asked why the Library Board was elevating the importance of operating hours at the main branch over keeping the satellite branches open. He insisted that there must be other options presented, like a package of cuts to consider besides just closing the branches. He asked for a recess of 5 minutes so that the Library Director Susan O'Neal could find any data defining the cost to operate on Sundays. It turned out that it costs the library $91,000 to remain open on Sundays (41 days total)....not enough by itself to keep the branches open. There was also some discussion on whether the labor contracts may or may not impact that cost.