Library receives grant money amid financial concerns
By Bill Lemanski |
MONROE n The Monroe Free Library has received a $33,800 computer-technology matching grant from the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation just as the voters reach the cusp of deciding two controversial referendums.
Carol Bezkorowajny, library’s head of circulation and automation/tech services, said the grant money will be used to install wireless Internet services within the library and to buy laptop computers.
Bezkorowajny said the grant, applied for in May, will be available in two phases, the first beginning in 2008 and the second in 2009. To secure the grant, the library will provide an approximate 35-percent match in funding.
She noted the wireless capability is planned for use in the existing building and would be used in the new facility being proposed by one of two public referendums in the coming election. She said the initial cost of $5,900, including maintenance the first year, will cover one access point and should support the current library building area plus two or more wireless locations elsewhere, with the grant being used to finance the laptops.
Wireless access will enable people with a valid library card to access the Internet from their (or the library’s) computer if they are within range of the access point.
The $11.9 million proposal for the new 30,000 square foot library building has been criticized by some residents and town officials as being too large and expensive. Voters will decide Nov. 6 whether they want the proposed new library building. There also will be a separate referendum question that, if passed, would increase the library’s yearly operating budget.
Monroe Town Councilman Peter Martin questioned both the cost and role of the library within the community. He said “effort is being made to provide facilities to promote community activities that are not traditionally associated with a library. I wonder if such facilities properly belong under the ownership of a private group or should be municipally owned.”
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Martin, who is also an IT consultant continued: “The library proposal is very ambitious and in my opinion a very costly undertaking. I believe that our residents would be better served by the construction of a community center with programs provided by expanding existing municipal departments. This approach would yield more cost effective programs while providing accountability to all of our residents.”
Monroe Town Supervisor Sandy Leonard argued: “There is no question Monroe needs a new library, but ‘at what cost, please?’ If the Library had come in at around $7 to $8 million, it would have been a good deal, but $11.9 million is only about $1 million less than the combined Town Hall/Library that was turned down.”
The operating budget, if approved, would be $1,089,256.00 (an increase of $84,896 over last year’s), Leonard said. The increased cost to a homeowner for a home appraised at $100,000 would be $287.
The cost of the new building, if approved, comes to $24 million, spread over 30 years with principal and interest. That’s double the original $11.9 million. In checkbook terms, a homeowner would pay $215 for a home appraised at $100,000.
The combined totals for the two propositions if approved would be $502 for a home appraised at $100,000.
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