Irvington Residents: Library is the Heartbeat of Our Village; Do Not Cut Its Hours

Irvington teenager Molly Robbins practically grew up at the , shelving books as a child and more recently researching stem cells for a high school paper. 

"The library is a place of community and opportunity," she said. "The librarians are like family."

Faced with the potential for a 10 percent tax hike in 2011-12 if services were kept the same as the previous year, Irvington Trustees asked all village departments to cut expenses by 10 percent.

According to Village Administrator Lawrence Schopfer, for some departments those reductions were sustainable and possible to implement. For others—like the police department—they were not. Ultimately, the proposed budget calls for a 4.5 percent tax rate increase from last year—not quite the zero-increase budget many trustees had hoped to adopt—but still a far cry from the staggering 10 percent jump it could have been. 

But many Irvington residents look at the proposed  budget and see only one thing: egregious cuts to the .

"We are already operating with a bare-bones budget," said Laura Lilienfield, president of the Board of Trustees of the Irvington Public Library. "There is no fat left to cut." 

Accordng to Lilienfield, the only way to reduce the library's budget is to cut personnel costs, which would require closing the library an additional 14 hours per week. It is now open six days per week; to meet the village's demands, the library could open only four.

"I believe you are doing an extreme disservice to residents in a time of need," Lilianfield said on Monday at a village board meeting packed with more than 40 residents donning buttons that read "020=307"—Dewey Decimal Code for "library equals communities."

According to library board members, the 10 percent cut to the library would account for only half of one percent of the average household's annual taxes

"The library is an essential part of our village, the heartbeat of our village," said resident Doug Wilson. "Don't take away that heartbeat to save only half of one percent."

Former trustee Pat Ryan argued that, "Cutting the library would hurt the people who need it most." 

Chris Mitchell pointed to the relevance of the library to helping the revitalization and vitality of Irvington's Main Street businesses. "I'm sure closing the library an extra two days will not help to generate customers for our businesses," he said. 

Others reasoned that living in a village whose library is open only for days per week would seriously hurt home resale values and that closing the library would take away the central meeting place for many local groups and organizations. Seniors said they depended on the vast  large-print book selection at the public library, and the unemployed said they needed the computers for job searching. Parents said they relied on the library as a place for them and their children to read and socialize. 

"Your coming out tonight shows your passion for the library," sad Mayor Brian Smith. "We've heard a lot tonight and certainly have a lot to think about." 

The board will hold another budget work session on April 13, with the possibility of a continuation on April 14. The board must adopt the budget by May 1. 

Editor's note: When library trustees say their service cuts account for half of one percent of the average household's taxes, they mean village taxes only, not county or town (including school) taxes. Village taxes account for about 25 percent of what residents pay in total per year.