Come Support Your Library at Meeting of the Middletown Library Board
I have often written about library goings-on over the last couple of years and have posted mostly over at Middletown Mike’s blog (www.MiddletownMike.com). Going forward, I will do a better job of posting here.
While many residents know about last year’s well-publicized transfer of $500,000 of Library funds to the Township, what occurred this year is less well known. The Township’s overcharge to the Library for Township-provided services in 2012 resulted in the unjustified seizure of several hundred thousand dollars more, wiping out all library reserves and digging into the materials budget.
If you would like to see the Township’s June 7, 2012 chargeback letter and analysis for yourself, here it is: http://ia601209.us.archive.org/25/items/MiddletownTownshipChargebackLetter6712/DOC062112.pdf
I will get into the details about what is wrong with the analysis in a future post, along with information about the changes in the Library Board’s make-up this year that guaranteed that the overcharge would be rubber-stamped by the Board. For some insight, see my comment to the following post on Middletown Mike: http://www.middletownmike.blogspot.com/2012/10/destruction-of-library-board-is-reason.html
For now, I just want to let you know about the Library Board meeting tonight [Nov. 14], so am passing along the below summary composed by a concerned Lincroft resident.
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If you love the Middletown Library, this is the time to show it!
Please consider attending the Middletown Library Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, November 14th at 7 p.m. in the main library meeting room (55 New Monmouth Road). The Board is working on its 2013 Budget, and as indicated by a message from Library Director Susan O'Neal on the Middletown Library website, http://www.mtpl.org, the future of our library is at stake.
Due to the decrease in funding for the Middletown Library system, the Board will be considering cuts to services and staff. Additionally, a drastic measure such as closing the Lincroft, Bayshore, and/or Navesink branches may be decided upon at this time. Considering the negative impact these potential cuts will have on our children, ourselves, and our community, the PTA encourages parents to attend this meeting and speak out on this matter. Of particular concern is our reliance on the Lincroft branch with the encroachment of space in Lincroft School as enrollment increases.
For those unable to attend the meeting, if you send Director Susan O'Neal (soneal@mtpl.org) a signed email with your comments, she will present your comments to the Directors.
Thank you for your concern.
Gordon York
11:55 am on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Thanks for your work on the shenanigans at the library. One big problem in Middletown is that the public is forced to be reactive, instead of proactive. This is usually due to the fact that there is not much transparency in Middletown. Thanks for recording the meetings, and thanks for shining a light in places that have been previously dark.
Roberto Fleres
12:51 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Libraries are an anachronism - more of a museum than a needed resource. The library should be closed immediately,
Pilgrim
5:30 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Roberto, you are entitled to your very uniformed opinion.
The only good thing that might come out of closing the library is that it would force the financial wizards on Township Committee to find another source of revenue to raid and to do a better job of managing taxpayer dollars. The only way to save the intellectual and creative resources that the library offers to Middletown residents of all ages is to turn it over to the Monmouth County Library System, which is something the Township Committee will probably try to do once they have picked it clean.
Pilgrim
5:37 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
It is time to take legal action against the Library Board for allowing the Township Committee to take money that the Township Committee isn't entitled to take; and, in the process take legal action against the Township Committee for taking taxpayer dollars that it isn't entitled to take.
ASimon
9:47 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
With parts of the Township suffering, the Township Committee will no doubt live up to that saying" let no disaster go to waste". An even closer eye will have to be kept to avoid more shenanigans during a time of crisis. Glad there are those who are paying attention.
Gary Junstrom
11:08 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
I was in the library recently and there were more people behind the counter than reading books. They have too much staff, period and on top of it, they are true union hacks. I remember seeing a show where TV personalities were talking about their first jobs. One guy said he was from Middletown, NJ and his first job was as a page in the library. On his first day, they gave him a tray of books to put back. After he finished in 10 minutes, they said to him, "what are you doing, you are supposed to take two hours to do that." Thank God the town is clamping down on these freespenders.
Pilgrim
12:49 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
Gary, just how many people were "behind the counter" -- one, two, three? Were they part-time or full-time or volunteers? What is your background regarding staffing experience that supports your opinion on whether-or-not an organization is overstaffed, understaffed or appropriately staffed? What show were you watching and when did this "guy" work for the Middletown Library and at what location? Do you have any opinion regarding the municipal tax dollars (approximately $200,000 a year) that go to support the heat and air conditioning that run at the same time all year at the Middletown Arts Center; do you think the Arts Center is run by "freespenders" and supported by township committee "freespenders"?
Gary Junstrom
3:27 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
Is this a cross examination Pilgrim? Listen, judging from your constant harangue against the township, I take it you are one of the handful of Linda Baum supporters who is always looking for some issue to latch onto. The library has one of the biggest staffs in the town, probably second only to the police. I have two eyes - I see a ton of people working for the library - this after the rest of the towns workforce has been downsized. What right does the library have to be growing when everyone else is shrinking? I am going to look into the number of staff, the raises over the years and everything else. May take some time, but I will get to the bottom of this. A lot of people I know have suspicions about the library who seems to think they have a right to taxpayer dollars with no questions asked. I bet I could run that library just as effectively for half the cost.