Where I Was: Week of March 14

I learn something new every day at this job.

Every. Single. Day.

However, one of the best things I've ever learned on the job was one of the first things I learned: NYS Education Law 259.1 - the ability for libraries to appeal directly to voters to increase library funding by way of a referendum on the school ballot.

This is kind of a big deal. This is the kind of big deal you need when you're looking to pay your staff a competitive wage, to increase the number of hours the library is open, to improve your collection, to implement a new program, to keep pace with technology - and your village or your town or the county isn't able to allocate the money you need to make it happen.

Currently, 47 of our 65 libraries receive funding through a school ballot referendum. In our system, libraries have a 97% success rate on the school ballot. Overwhelmingly, the voters in our area support library funding increases. Part of my job is to assist member libraries through the process.

Last week, I attended a school board meeting in Sackets Harbor to be support the two public libraries in that school district who have passed resolutions to place a referendum for a library increase on the school ballot this spring. This is the first time the libraries in that district have gone out to vote in over ten years, so making sure the community understands the process and has a chance to ask questions is important.

Especially now that Ed Law 259.1 is in the spotlight these days, thanks to a voter in the CNY area who objects to it.

I don't know what the particular objection is, but I do know that 259.1 is a pretty amazing exercise in democracy. Even if the representatives of your city or town or village decide that they cannot or will not provide the necessary funding for your library, your community can provide that funding directly - by voting to do so!

I also know that without 259.1 and the sustainable funding it provides, many of the libraries in this area would be forced to make some pretty difficult choices. Hopefully, they won't have to, and libraries will continue to be recipients of the strong community support they've gotten up to this point.