Voters reject Lewiston Library referendum

Seivert awaits response from town to library budget proposal

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, November 13, 2004

Despite high expectations along with some intense lobbying by library officials to the community, town and village of Lewiston residents by more than a two-to-one margin rejected the concept of a Special District Library and the funding for such an arrangement by means of a special tax, in very heavy voting at the library this past Tuesday.

Library Executive Director Lisa Seivert reported the referendum, which called for voter approval on Special Districting and a $350,000 budget, went down to a defeat by a vote of 403 in favor to 860 against.

Voter approval for a new board of trustees became a moot point as a result of the budget defeat. Seivert reported that current Library President Robert Prusetti was the highest vote getter of the 14 vying for the seven positions that would have been filled under the chartering plan. She didn’t offer vote tallies for the remaining trustee candidates.

The referendum, much discussed in the community in recent weeks, saw residents waiting upwards to an hour at times Tuesday at the library to cast their vote. However for tax-saturated Lewiston property owners, many still apparently with a very bad taste in their mouths from the recent and unexpected hefty school tax hike, the library proposal proved too much to swallow and it was rejected by voters in an overwhelming fashion.

To Approach Town

Seivert, who was understandably quite dejected following the vote, said the current Library of Trustees whose current body remains intact, was expected to submit a $350,000 budget plan -- basically the same service/operating hours package rejected Tuesday by voters -- to the town of Lewiston yesterday afternoon for consideration in its yet-to-be finalized budget for 2005. The town has until Nov. 20 to adopt a budget plan for 2005.

Seivert indicated yesterday morning she was uncertain as to how receptive Supervisor Fred Newlin and the Lewiston Town Board will be to the proposal. “We’ll have to wait and see,” she said. “We depend on the town for the majority of funding.”

The town, which indeed has been the major funding source for the Lewiston Library operations for the past several years, has also been steadily decreasing its allocation to the Library -- its 2004 funding was $300,000. Seivert stated that total had enabled the library to be open 40 hours a week, which will not change for the balance of 2004. “Things will remain at status quo for the balance of this year,” she said.

However Seivert expressed uncertainty as to how the library will function in the future if town funding levels take another nose-dive. “We’re (already) in a budget deficit ... we have a $10,000-$20,000 deficit. We can’t continue to work on that level,” she said.

Libraries Struggling

Seivert pointed out libraries throughout the state are also struggling, noting the current situation with the Buffalo and Erie County Library system. For this she blamed the state, noting the ongoing Medicaid crisis and also Gov. George Pataki’s recent five percent statewide library funding decline as major factors. As a result many library systems, including the NIOGA Library System of which Lewiston is a member, find themselves in poor financial straits as well.

“We’re doing as much as we can on our part already,” she said.

Seivert pointed out the Lewiston Library has been actively pursuing alternative funding mechanisms, noting its past grant applications to the Gates Foundation as a case in point. “The problem with grants is that they (the funding sources) base the request on demographics,” including an area’s poverty level. “The Lewiston Library does not qualify” she said, adding this position impacts other grant funding initiatives. “Grants come (by means) of matching funds. We don’t have them,” Seivert said.

Hoping for town approval to its $350,000 budget request, Seivert said she wished town officials would consider what the library does for the community. “The library isn’t just looking for handouts. We serve the community. We do what our patrons want,” noting for example the demands of residents for increased operating hours.

Options

Considering other options, Seivert said she was uncertain on what if any assistance would be available from the state and county. “I haven’t even talked to them at this point,” she said.

On possibly securing more volunteers (Lewiston currently has five), to assist her with running library operations in light of staff reductions and the potential for more, Seivert was skeptical. “You can’t run a public library based on volunteers. You need staff help ... and it depends on their (volunteers) willingness to get them to work.”

And with volunteers there’s the potential problem of confidentiality issues involving library patrons that they should not be involved with. Noting circulation duties for example, Seivert said that in a small community library setting as is the case with Lewiston, legal concerns of patron confidentiality come into play, and while her staff is versed on the specifics, she wouldn’t be comfortable with volunteers. “With staff you can establish guidelines with confidentiality, something you can’t always do with volunteers. It’s a major issue with patrons,” she said.

So in essence the decision on library’s operating future returns to the town of Lewiston. Seivert said the $350,000 request to be presented would bring with it more operating hours for next year -- 47 hours versus the current 40, along with maintaining staff and possibly more offerings. If the town rejects the plan and maintains current allocations, it would mean lower operating hours, reduced staff, less procurements, reduced services, etc. A lower town allocations would have a greater impact. It all depends on the town of Lewiston.

“It costs money to run a library,” Seivert said. “Politicians have got to stop treating the public library as a pawn.”

In closing, Seivert offered her thanks to the Friends of the Lewiston Library and to all who have helped, despite the failed referendum effort. “I would like to thank all our supporters, the Friends, people who would like to see us continue. Thank God for our Friends,” she said.

More to come on the Lewiston Library situation in next week’s Sentinel.