Task force to report at April 23 meeting
By Mary Ellen Zangara, Special Writer
A task force will investigate the possibility of the Manville Public Library joining the Somerset County Library System and report back at the April 23 Borough Council meeting.
Mayor Angelo Corradino suggested a resolution, which was unanimously passed by the council, to form a team to investigate the issue. He appointed council members Sherri Lynn, Lou Petzinger and Steve Szabo. Three members of the Manville Public Library board of directors Joe Patero, Alan Hardwick and Sharon Krebs will join them.
This group will look into the merger and report recommendations along with a resolution for action at the April 23 council meeting.
Several residents came to Monday night’s council meeting to hear discussion on the issue.
Kathryn Quick, the president of the library board of directors, spoke about the importance of appointing the library transition team and joining the county library system.
Ms. Quick said the state mandates the library should have a budget of $366,000. In the past, the borough went over and above providing that, she said Wednesday, but the municipality has signaled it wouldn’t be able to fund do that this year, perhaps by as much as $80,000.
”Taking that into account, we projected that the library would run out of money sometime in September or October, which leaves us with two scenarios,” Ms. Quick said. “We either close the library and furlough the staff if we run out of money or we have a skeleton staff and furlough people and cut our services neither of which we want to do.
”That is the cold, hard fact about our budget. We don’t like it.”
She explained that was the scenario if nothing goes wrong at the library no repairs, not getting any more circulation, not improving the inventory and that’s with some of the library trustees supplementing the programs with their own money, she said.
If the borough budget included all the money the library needed to continue as is, it alone might require a penny and one-half tax increase on the local budget, she said.
Looking at those facts, the best scenario was to join the county system, she said.
”If we close the library, we will be able to join the library system, but we will not have a library (building) in this town. It is not required, and we would lose all those jobs,” she said. “That has never been our intention. We don’t like the scenarios that we have projected. We don’t like having to face this problem, and I wish that we did not have to come and do this. The cold, hard fact is that we do, and we cannot put it off any longer.”
Ms. Quick added, “I beg you all to keep a library in this town and appoint the transition team and let us negotiate a contract. Let us bring a contract back to you with the help of the people you appoint, and maybe you can decide at that time what to do. We would really like to keep a library here in town.”
Brian Auger, director of the Somerset County Library System, explained the benefits of becoming a part of the county library system.
He began by thanking them for the opportunity to share his thoughts about his passion for public libraries.
”We were approached by your library board of trustees about how Manville’s library might function as a part of the Somerset County Library System,” he said. “I don’t need to tell you that you have a beautiful facility. It would be an honor to serve the people of Manville through their library.
”Were Manville’s library to join the county system, we would work to significantly enhance resources available to residents,” he said. “We would bring to Manville residents access to our collection of nearly one million items, access to numerous online licensed databases and access to the largest e-book collection in New Jersey.”
What is “ours” would be “yours” as well, he said.
”Pending your decision to join the county, we would work with your designees to tailor a branch agreement that would best allow for a thriving Manville library as a branch of the Somerset County Library System,” he said.
Resident Thomas Kotarsky said he supported joining the county system.
”I think it is imperative and very important that this board join the county system,” he said. “I think it is much more than a no-brainer in my mind and my personal opinion. We probably have maybe 70,000 resources versus over a million. I think we are cheating the citizens of Manville, the students as well as the adults (if we don’t go for) more hours, much better hours and much more access.
”The one thing that we didn’t mention that we pay our county taxes, and we pay a lot as every town does, and it costs the citizens of Manville $175 to join the county library if you are not a member. It is much more access, much more computers, much more resources.”
Rudy Nowak also spoke about the merger.
”As a former member of the library board, many times over the five years that I was a board member, I inquired about joining the county library,” he said. “I think to join the county library it would be in the best interest of the community.”

