Jamesburg residents keep library going

BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer

JAMESBURG — This is no final chapter for the borough’s public library.

Residents voted nearly 2 to 1 to keep the library open Nov. 4, defeating a ballot question that would have discontinued municipal funding and support for the facility.

The Borough Council placed the question on the general election ballot, saying state-mandated cost increases for the library were too much, and saying the town would be better off both in terms of cost and services if it entered into an agreement to use Monroe Township’s library.

Library advocates such as Carole Hetzell, president of its board of trustees, said the town was being “pennywise and pound foolish.” She and the Friends of the Jamesburg Public Library waged a campaign to vote down the referendum. Residents did just that, with 959 in favor of continuing the municipal operation, and 564 against.

“The people wanted it,” Hetzell said. “It wasn’t just people connected with the library who voted for it.”

Mayor Anthony LaMantia said he was surprised at the margin with which the library prevailed.

“We left it up to the people and they decided to keep it open, but the majority surprised me,” he said. “I had an idea it would stay open, but not by that margin.”

The ballot question, LaMantia said, allowed the residents to make the decision, which is what borough officials had wanted. He said he did not know if the borough would put the question out again in the future, but there are major decisions to be made on the upcoming municipal budget.

Since the borough is limited in terms of its overall budget increases, officials said the library increases may force them to cut other services.

Library funding is based on a state formula, which mandates that one-third of a mill (a mill is one-tenth of a cent) per $100 of assessed value on properties in a municipality be given to the library. This amounts to $33 per $100,000 of assessed valuation in a town. The formula has resulted in library funding increases of about 15 percent per year. The library cost the town $185,000 last year, up from $170,000 the year before. This year’s increase has not yet been determined.

Closing the library and using Monroe’s officials said, would have saved the borough about $30,000 per year, and LaMantia said the shared services agreement would have been for an indefinite period of time. The cost to Jamesburg for use of the Monroe library would be based on the number of borough residents who take out library cards.

Hetzell wasn’t so sure about the ongoing savings.

“There was a fear it would soon cost as much as ours,” she said.

Hetzell also had a different take on the election results, saying she was surprised so many voted against the library.

Some have suggested the wording of the ballot question may have been confusing, since a “no” vote was for the library and a “yes” vote was to discontinue support.

“You had to say ‘no’ to save the library, which was confusing to some people,” Hetzell said. The Jamesburg library has one full-time employee and five part-time workers, LaMantia said. Had the library been closed, it was unclear what would have happened to its staff, though it was possible they would be moved to the Monroe library. Hetzell thought that would be unlikely.

Hetzell said many people in town like the fact that they can walk to the Jamesburg library, which she thinks factored into the landslide win. She has noted that the library is “the only thing in town that is free and open to everyone.”