Elmont: losing its little libraries?

For the past several years, the Elmont Memorial Library’s Board of Trustees has discussed the possibility of closing its two branch libraries, in Alden Manor and Stewart Manor. The budget discussion for 2012-13, however, has gotten more serious, since both branches' leases will expire this year.

Herald file photo

For the past several years, the Elmont Memorial Library’s Board of Trustees has discussed the possibility of closing its two branch libraries, in Alden Manor and Stewart Manor. Over the past several weeks, however, the dialogue among board members has become more serious.

With Alden Manor's five-year lease ending on July 1 and Stewart Manor’s six-year lease up on Oct. 31, the board is faced with a difficult question whose answer will have a significant effect on the library’s 2012-13 budget: Should it keep the branches open for another five and six years, or close them and cut costs?

For Pat Nicolosi, the library board’s vice president, the answer is simple: consolidate, close the branches, and use the extra money more efficiently. “A lot of libraries have already closed their branches,” Nicolosi explained in February, after a board meeting on Jan. 26. “There are a lot of libraries that are considering closing their branches, too.”

According to Nicolosi, the board has been discussing how the library can better serve the public. One idea, for example, is to use school buses during the day, when local schools aren’t using them, for disabled and elderly patrons who don’t have transportation to and from the main library.

“There are a lot of things that we can do if we’re creative, but to keep these buildings open and pay employees, and health insurance for those employees, it doesn’t make sense,” Nicolosi said of the branch libraries. “I also have to be fair to people who can’t have property taxes raised anymore.”

According to Nicolosi, the Alden Manor, or Alden Terrace, branch’s landlord is planning to increase the annual rent by $900 in July, when a new lease would begin. The library currently spends $80,400 a year on rent for the two branches, which, he said, are used by fewer than 600 patrons.
Several residents attended the board’s January meeting to speak out against the branches’ possible closure, and submitted a petition with nearly 700 signatures from those who oppose the potential move, Nicolosi said.