North Adams Library Trustees Seek Staffing Options
 The library trustees discuss ways to expand staffing with limited options. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Public Library faces a lack of city support in funding for staffing and maintenance.
The Library Trustees met Monday afternoon to discuss needs within the building.
Librarian Mindy Hackner said after resolving a recent issue with staff at City Hall, she discussed the lack of staffing in the building with the mayor.
She said the library can only offer minimal services and over the past few years, the staff dropped from 16 to 10.
"Personally I don't know how a city of 13,000 is supposed to run a library this size with only three staff members," Hackner said. "You can't do library service when you are stretched that thin…it's the most minimum basic service you can give in a public library and it's not satisfactory."
She said with the lack of staff, at times only one person can tend the upper levels of the library. She said employees do not feel comfortable working by themselves in the upper levels and it creates a security risk.
She said the mayor agreed with her but told her there are few options because of lack of funding in general.
"They now see across the city there are some real fractures in the foundation of city government," she said. "There will probably be things that happen in the future that indicate they just don't have the manpower or the money to cover all of the bases."
The library's salary and expense budget is down nearly $50,000 from four years ago.
Hackner suggested training some of the Friends of the Library so they could volunteer and be on a call list when there is a lack of staffing.
Trustee Donald Pecor suggested reaching out to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts or other public school libraries to see what they could offer in an emergency situation.
Hackner said the library will continue to work with what it has.
"We aren't singular. They are having the same problem in dispatch in the Police Department, and they are having the same problem with an overextended ambulance squad," she said. "They are running on empty and a library is a soft service."
The trustees also informally outlined with the Friends of the Library what the group will support. Recently because of lack of city funding, Hackner asked if they would pay for some maintenance around the building.
Trustee Hulda Jowett said she felt the Friends should not pay for things the city is supposed to cover.
"They all work so hard and so much is contributed," Jowett said. "I really think their money should be for special things, and the maintenance of a public building really belongs to the city."
The Friends did agree to fund continued training for the librarians and would consider upgrades to public computers.
Hackner said the library does not have a maintenance budget and because the city considers the building to be in good shape, many of the building's issues are not addressed.
The Trustees discussed possible options that would increase the library's use in the city and help raise funds for such maintenance projects.
Hackner said she would like to conduct a survey to see what services people would like to see in the library.
Trustee Richard Markham proposed holding an open house and sharing specific needs the library has with the public as well as share how the library has helped people in town.
"I think sharing some success stories would be really encouraging," Markham said. "I think people like to like libraries."
Hackner said a new natural gas heating system will supplement the geothermal system that does not properly heat the building in extreme cold.
The money needed to purchase the new system is coming from the city's one-time $750,000 state grant being provided for capital projects. She said once the city receives the money, it will go out to bid.
"They have measured everything, they know exactly what they want to put in, and they have it all ready to go," she said. "They just haven't purchased the burner itself yet, and I am not quite sure when that is going to happen."
*The ambulance service is an independent nonprofit, not a city department.
Tags: library trustees, NAPL, public library,
