PASSAIC PUBLIC LIBRARY
PASSAIC PUBLIC LIBRARY IN THE NEWS
The purpose of this page is to provide the public with a fair appraisal of the facts based on the information available. In cases where the newspaper article runs juxtaposed to the opinion of the Library Director and Board of Trustees you will see a highlighted box.
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Thanks to Mike Kelly for his column "Don't close Passaic's Reid Library" (Opinion, March 4). Allow me to correct one line wherein he wrote, "Passaic has cut or flat-funded its library system for the past three years." Mayor Samuel Rivera and the Gary Schaer-led council have actually shortchanged the two libraries for six years.
The year that I left office as Passaic's mayor (2001), funding for the library was at $1,135,530. In the years following, under Rivera and Schaer, that figure dipped as low as $870,426 and never went higher than $1,090,000. During that same period, the mayor's salary went from $55,000 to $117,000. Council salaries rose from $15,000 to $24,000 plus extra expense accounts for all.
That the Reid Memorial Library is 104 years old does not mean it is falling apart. It is a solid structure, not crumbling as indicated. It has been systematically allowed to age without proper maintenance these last six years. At one time, it had also been used as a civil defense shelter. The roof was replaced in 1987. Leaks within the building can be attributed to having the heat shut off on the second floor, causing pipes to burst due to freezing weather.
"After further investigation by LAN Associates, it has been determined that the building's foundation is damaged and all of the electrical and water supplies that come into the building have to be removed and reinstalled after the completion of the repair of the foundation" taken from 2006 CDBG application, confirmed in a letter from LAN 03/27/2007.
A partial accounting shows that from June, 2001 to April, 206 the Library spent $87,582.18 on repairs at the Reid Branch from it's operating budget. Moreover, in 2005 and 2006 tthe Library sought CDBG grants of $211,000.00 for a major rehabilitation of the Reid Branch.
Heat was not turned off during the winter. Rather the boiler malfunctioned over the weekend and was replaced as soon as possible the next week.
"The entire rubber roof of the Reid Memorial Branch needs to be replaced, as it has been determined to be the cause of the above mentioned damage to the foundation." Taken from the 2006 CDBG application, confirmed in a letter from LAN 03/27/2007.
If the mayor and council want to do what's right and save Reid, funding could easily be provided by each of them donating half a year's salary for this worthwhile cause. Their salaries and expense accounts in the current budget total $309,133. Half of that gives the library what it needs.
Margie Semler
Passaic, March 10
The writer is a former mayor of Passaic.
