Seivert outlines need for Special District referendum

Residents encouraged to attend Nov. 1 public forum

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, October 23, 2004

The Lewiston Public Library, beset by funding issues over the past several years, along with differences of opinion from the village and town of Lewiston governments over who bears the financial responsibility for its operations, has entered a new phase as it proceeds with its plans towards re-chartering.

Following approval on the state level earlier this year of legislation to create the Lewiston Public Library District -- a joint effort of state Sen. George Maziarz and state Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, which was signed into law last spring by Gov. Pataki -- the library is now moving full-steam ahead with plans for a Tuesday, Nov. 9 vote for village and town residents.

At issue is a referendum which if approved by voters would re-charter the Lewiston Library from a public library to Special District Library status, establish a $350,000 operating budget for 2005 and elect seven new members out of field of 13 potential candidates to the Library Board of Trustees.

Hours for Nov. 9 voting to be held at the library, are from noon to 9 p.m. Two voting machines are expected to be on-site that day and the voting format is expected to be similar to that utilized at last May’s Lew-Port School Board and budget elections.

Winning Proposition

Library Director Lisa Seivert, who has been steering the Special District Library proposal both locally and on the state level for nearly two years, sees it as a win-win for both the library and Lewiston residents. “The Albany library went through it earlier and they’ve done very well,” said Seivert on their recent move to re-charter. “Rochester, the whole county, is looking to go special district ... I’ve spoken to ... the Pendergas Library in Jamestown, they’re considering going Special District,” she added.

With news on the threat of a complete library system shutdown in Erie County due to the county’s Medicaid funding crisis, the special district concept is indeed becoming an attractive option to maintain a quality library. But how does it affect residents?

Seivert sees special districting as basically a shifting of responsibility from municipalities directly to the voters on supporting a library. “It’s a far more democratic system,” she said, “because people are directly voting on how their tax dollars are being spent rather than just leaving it up to another body.”

For both village and town of Lewiston residents, re-chartering would essentially give them a greater say on how they want their library run -- from approving a budget to determining a governing board. The referendum, up for their approval, brings with it the potential of more operating hours for the library -- which have dropped from 57 hours in recent years to its current 40-hour schedule over six days; it would provide for an increased book budget -- along with greater circulation numbers which would also bring an increased potential for grant monies; and it would provide for more programming and service options along with improvements to the library’s heavily used computers.

Popular With Residents

“They are extremely heavily used here,” Seivert said of the library’s computers, noting how its users are of all different ages, backgrounds and needs.

Seivert related that of Lewiston’s current population, which numbers more than 16,000 residents, the Lewiston Public Library boasts a charter population of 13,348 who actively visit, along with registered patrons (library card carrying members) which are over 7,000.

But due to continuing drops in its budget -- which in past years has been primarily funded by the town of Lewiston, the library has suffered. Seivert revealed a declining funding pattern, which has seen the library’s yearly budget appropriation from the town drop from $381,000 in 2001 to $319,000 in 2002 and $240,000 in 2003. The town increased its funding for 2004 to $300,000, and while an improvement it still fails to meet their needs, she said.

Other funding has come from Niagara County -- whose numbers have paralleled the town’s -- dropping from $32,000 in ‘02 to $15,000 in ‘03, and jumping to $18,000 in ‘04, due to the town’s increase and the library’s fluctuations in circulation numbers. State funding has remained at $2,500 in recent years and the town of Niagara also assisted with $2,300 to help support Lewiston Library operations.

But with that decline has come reductions in staff numbering 4.5 positions, the let-go of three library pagers, greatly reduced materials budgets and the lost potential of grant monies. Currently the library has 10 actual employees -- three of which are full-time, and three certified librarians -- two of them full-time.

Wants Stability

“Basically we’re looking for a stable funding source,” Seivert said of the $350,000 proposal contained in the referendum. She said the library needs to adhere to certain requirements in order to keep its state chartering intact. One of these is operating hours -- the library needs to be open a minimum of 37 hours a week with a librarian on staff. The current 40-hour schedule is hovering just above minimum requirements.

This has resulted in a drop in circulation -- from 120,000 in prior years to 90,000 as of December 2003. It has also meant a drop in county funding, as well as declines in grants and in funding from the NIOGA Library System. “The more money we spend, the more we can get back,” said Seivert, adding that funding reductions in some areas have translated into lower funding appropriations and grants from others.

And this comes at a time when library activity continues to increase. Seivert related that library users in recent months have included such varied groups as the 200-plus pre-schoolers who attended an earlier Dr. Suess birthday celebration this year; Lew-Port students participating in the Young Authors program; 150 area school-age children participating in the library’s summer reading program; high school and college students as well adults continually utilizing its computers and resources for school-related projects and job search tasks; adults engaged in writing seminars or conducting research; seniors attending AARP tax seminars; the endless requests of area groups to use the library’s community room for their meetings -- the list goes on and on.

Not Just Books

“People here think we just hand out books,” Seivert said. “We do much more for the community. We are the resource for the town.”

Which further explains her push towards re-chartering and a more reliable funding source.

Seivert revealed, for example, that while the referendum calls for an approved budget for 2005 of $350,000, her actual total operating expenses actually amount to $392,000. She praised the dedicated work of the Friends of the Library, who have contributed in areas such as outreach efforts to the area business community, and its successful used book sales -- the most recent of which raised over $4,060 for library operations.

They are fantastic said Seivert, as she pointed how others have also come out in support of the library’s programs and its re-chartering initiative. These include Lewiston Town Supervisor Fred Newlin and Town Board members, who had earlier passed a resolution to that effect, Village Mayor Richard Soluri and Village Trustees, Lew-Port School Superintendent Dr. Whitney Vantine, district administrators and the Lew-Port School Board. All come on in support of the measure.

The Cost

Asking for voter support of the re-chartering measure, Seivert said its cost to property owners would amount to an additional $57 per $100,000 of assessed valuation for a typical village property of $100,000, and for a typical town property of $112,000.

Seivert pointed out the library referendum proposal essentially covers residents living in the village of Lewiston proper and those town residents in the library service area. Of town residents, she said those impacted would be in the library service boundaries from the Niagara River to the west, the Porter border on the north, and extend to the Dickersonville Road-Blacknose Spring Road-Walmore Road areas to the east. On the south the service boundaries extend along a line stretching from Lafayette Avenue south of Niagara University to the Saunders Settlement Road area near Colonial Village. Users of the Sanborn-Pekin Free Library, the William J. McLaughlin Free Library in Ransomville and the Youngstown Free Library -- all members (as is Lewiston) of the NIOGA Library System -- are not affected by the referendum

Public Forum

She closed by announcing the Lewiston Public Library will be holding a public forum, Monday, Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m., in the library’s community room. That session, intended to be purely informational in format, will include presentation and an overview of the budget, discussion of the library’s current financial situation, and attendance by the library’s current board of trustees (five of the current seven are on the Nov. 9 ballot). Seivert as well as a third party overseer are expected to serve as moderators. The forum is not intended to provide opportunity for debate on the issue, she added.

For more information, visit the library or call 745-4720.