By Nicole Falco
On Tuesday, the Town of Hempstead Town Council unanimously approved Thursday, Sept. 12 from noon to 9 p.m. at yet to be determined locations as the Mill Brook community's opportunity to vote to establish a special library funding district and enter into contract with a local library to ensure full and continued library access. If approved, Mill Brook could enjoy full library service by January 2003.
In July, state enabling legislation was passed after being introduced in the Senate by Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-C, Rockville Centre) and in the Assembly by Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) at the request of the Town. Governor George Pataki is expected to sign the bill into law.
Residents of areas not taxed by an existing library district, such as in Mill Brook, previously bought a yearly membership at a local library, until a state Board of Regents ruling three years ago prohibited the sale of library service. Since then, the Nassau Library Service has been working to identify unserved communities and stimulate the development of library service by helping those areas set up a system to tax themselves in order to secure service. Similar special districts have already been established in Oyster Bay and Hewlett.
Since Jan. 1, 2000, the Mill Brook residents have been among 40,000 county-wide that have carried state mandated access cards issued through NLS, which give them free but limited service at 37 of the county's 54 libraries. On Dec. 31, 2002, their cards will expire and they will lose what little library access they have unless they are actively seeking a solution, such as in the case of Mill Brook.
In September, residents will vote on whether or not to establish the special district and what the budget for the district should be. Town Attorney Eugene Ferencik is scheduled to meet with representatives from the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library this week, on behalf of Mill Brook, to discuss budget proposals.
In previous statements Marshall Botwinick, director of the Waldinger Library, said the Valley Stream library would be more than willing to work with the currently unserved community of Mill Brook to enter into a contract for service with them.
Using an estimated library tax rate of 93 cents per $100 of assessed valuation and an estimated home assessment of $5,000, an NLS consultant, Joe Eisner, previously said it could cost as little as $46.50 per year, per household, for full library service for Mill Brook and adjacent areas. However, those figures are only an estimate and some have said the yearly cost could be closer to the $100 range. Still, by comparison, a yearly family membership at the Waldinger Library had cost $210.
"I'm hoping it won't be a problem. I'm hoping people will see the value [of a library] over the cost, even people who don't use libraries," said Mill Brook resident Julie Olson, a strong voice in Mill Brook's quest for service. "The community is detrimentally affected if they don't have access to a library."
Olson is a parent to nine children and was astonished to discover that she had to purchase a family library membership card when she first moved to Valley Stream from Suffolk County. To further add to her shock, the Board of Regents' ruling made the sale of membership illegal. Purchasing library membership may have been considered simpler by some, but Olson said ultimately everyone should have complete access to their local library.
To ensure her family and other residents would have full library service once the state mandated access cards expired, Olson and others carried around a petition asking for the signatures necessary to ensure the passing of the enabling state and town legislation. In addition, the Mill Brook Civic Association invited the NLS and local officials to its April meeting to inform residents of the situation.
Olson said she is surprised but "glad" at how quickly everything has come together. She as well as Town Supervisor Rich Guardino gave much credit to Councilman Darcy who championed the cause on behalf of his constituents.
Darcy, who grew up in Valley Stream and attended Holy Name of Mary School, said, "School officials may not want to hear this, but I learned more from the Valley Stream library than in all my years in schooling."
As a child, Darcy remembers borrowing the maximum of 10 books at a time from the library, which was then located around the corner from Holy Name. Darcy shared concerns similar to Olson's regarding the budget that will be established for the special library funding district.
"Some people are concerned with how much this is going to cost them. We don't want to set the budget too high; then they are not going to vote for this," Darcy said.
Both pieces of the Sept. 12 town referendum must pass in order for Mill Brook to have its library district established.
"When talking about quality of life, one of the first things people look for are good schools as well as a good library," said Guardino. "Libraries are a fundamental aspect of any community...especially in this day and age."
The Town expects to mass mail the residents of Mill Brook reminding them to vote on Sept. 12, according to Darcy and Guardino.
A similar process recently began in North Valley Stream that includes small parts of North Malverne, East Franklin Square and North Lynbrook. That area is much larger and a lack of library services affects more than 14,000 residents.
An omnibus bill enabling the establishment of four separate special funding districts in each of those communities was introduced in the Senate by Skelos and in the Assembly by Assemblymen Bob Barra (R-C, Lynbrook) and Tom Alfano (R-C, Franklin Square). That bill was passed and now awaits both the governor's signature as well as a date on which a Town referendum could be voted on. The Town Board has until Oct. 1, 2003, to set a date for the referendum.
