At public meetings held on the library referendum issue, statements were made by the mayor and members of the City Council about the library’s surplus and the fact the library did not need all the money it is given.
This statement is misleading in several ways. It is true the library did not spend every penny allocated, but this is because the trustees are reserving money for a new roof and repairs to the outside of the building, costly expenditures that cannot be paid for out of a single year’s budget.
This money also is being held by the city, not in accounts controlled by library trustees.
Remember also, the library’s budget will increase 4.69 percent this year, not the 15 percent stated in the interpretive statement and creating a “department of the library” will create a body unknown in library law, which will leave library decisions in the hands of politicians.
For more information on these issues or to ask a question, go to www.lambertvillelibrary.org.
Deborah Mercer
trustee
Lambertville Public Library
