Jamestown High School Class of 1970 presents donation to James Prendergast Library

The Jamestown High School Class of 1970 has presented a $3,500 donation to the James Prendergast Library. The donation will support educational programming at the library.

Library Director Anne Greene said the funding will go toward expanding programs such as Community Days, Summer Reading in the Park, and Crafting and Community.

For more information about the Prendergast library, visit prendergastlibrary.org.

Green said only the library patron will be using the enclosed pod, “Typically, the patrons are using this for follow-up care. For example, maybe they had a surgery and they need a post-op check-up or maybe perhaps maybe they have a mental health counseling session. The patients won’t be coming to the library if they are ill, if they need to see a physician, that’s not the purpose of the telehealth space.”

Green added the Prendergast Library is one of two pilots for this project in Western New York with the other one being the Buffalo-Erie County Public Library.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke to James Prendergast Library Executive Director Anne Greene about the library’s new fundraiser as well as summer programming.

Prendergast Library Executive Director Anne Green said people can register for the hunt at jplagoosechase.org, “What you have to do is register for the game. It’s $20 per team which can be an individual or a group so that way a family of four or five, or however many, can play together and not have to pay per individual. When you register you receive a unique game code in your email confirmation that you’ve registered.”

Green said the fundraiser will support a number of goals at the library, “We have three critical goals from the library’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan – to work with the Jamestown Public Schools to increase access to library materials and services and improve literacy ,and to enhance community outreach, and to grow partnerships with community organizations.”

Green added that the game’s mission is to get people out and about in downtown Jamestown, to learn more about Jamestown’s history, and to support the library.

The James Prendergast Library

JAMESTOWN – The James Prendergast Library Board of Trustees will wait until at least the fall before it determines whether or not it will change its bylaws to determine how future trustees are selected and whether or not to establish a residency requirement.

The Prendergast falls under the category of an Association Library in New York State. Earlier this month residents approved a proposition to create an Association Library District for the library, which allows it to raise $350,000 each year through a library property tax that will be added to the Jamestown School District tax bill. The library district – which follows the same boundaries as the school district – was established to help offset a recent reduction in funding from city government. The new $350,000 levy also can not be adjusted or eliminated unless another public vote takes place.

As a library board, the trustees have the fiduciary responsibility of overseeing the annual budget, which now will include the annual library tax paid by all property owners in the district.

If the Prendergast were a Public Library instead of an Association Library, it would be required by state law to hold elections for its board members or have them appointed by other elected officials, such as the mayor and city council. There is no state law mandating a process for selecting trustees for association libraries, but the New York State Education Department (NYSED) states at its website that an association library can emulate the basic characteristics of a public library by providing a process for, among other things, the public election of its trustees. NYSED also states, “Association Library bylaws should be amended by the board of trustees to ensure that all eligible voters within the library’s service area can ‘join’ the library association as members and participate in annual elections to select library trustees.” NYSED also states that while not mandatory, residential requirements for the board of trustees may be established in an association library’s bylaws.

As it currently stands for the Prendergast Library, only those individuals who serve on the board of trustees are considered “members” and have the ability to select any new trustees to join the board.  And anyone is invited to apply to be a member of the board of trustees, regardless of residency. The bylaws also state that the number of trustees shall not be less than seven nor more than fifteen. As of this month, there are seven trustees who reside within the district and five who do not.

Prior to the vote approving the $350,000 library tax levy, one of the questions that was raised in the community was whether or not there would be a residency requirement for the board of trustees if the district was approved – or even if city residents would be able to directly vote for who they want to serve on the board, similar to what currently happens with the school board.

“This board could vote to institute that. If that’s important to people, let us know,” explained recently-retired Prendergast executive director Tina Scott during a “community conversation” meeting last October. But Scott also added that there hadn’t been a lot of interest in board participation from within the community, or for there to be stricter requirements on who would serve on the board. “It’s tough to get people to sign up to be on the board and [if there was a required public vote] we would need to pay to hold a vote. But if that’s what the community would want, then absolutely. We’d love the participation,” Scott said.

The library’s new executive director Anne Greene also told WRFA earlier this month that changing the bylaws is something the board is willing to consider.

“The board is open to this idea. However, this year it is impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve been focusing on providing service and adhering to public safety guidelines that we have to maintain. But they are definitely open to that and they’ve been discussing it. There would have to be candidates, a campaign, and elections and what not, but they definitely are investigating it,” Greene said.

Because the board doesn’t typically meet during the summer months, the next time it meets wont be until September 17. Whether or not there will be discussion on changing the bylaws for selecting future trustees and also a implementing a residency requirement at that time remains to be seen.

The extension comes after several districts in the state said they had challenges with sending ballots to out voters on time. But that doesn’t appear to be a problem locally in Chautauqua County, where County Board of Elections Commissioner Norman Green said there were no problems or delays getting ballots out to residents.

“While most all of the rest of NYS is scrambling and absolutely FAILING to pull off a vote by mail election for school votes this Tuesday, our county school district clerks with support from our Board of Elections staff are getting the job done on time and in the most cost effective way. So Chautauqua County proud of the people I work with at my office and at the schools,” Green wrote on his Facebook page over the weekend.

While the deadline for mail-in ballots has been extended for a week, if any ballots are hand-delivered to a respective school district, they still must be received by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9.

For Jamestown Public Schools, residents are asked to vote on an $88.3 million “pandemic” budget that includes no property tax increase. The total spending is nearly $2.7 million less than the current year’s spending plan and includes the temporary elimination of the Success Academy and P-Tech programs, seven layoffs, the elimination of all field trips, and the holding off on hiring 40 new employees – including 23 teachers.

The austere spending plan is due to the state saying all schools in New York could see as much as a 20% reduction in state aid due to a downturn in the economy caused by COVID-19.

More details on the budget are provided on the school website.

The James Prendergast Library will also be part of the upcoming school district budget vote, with a proposition asking the public to approve the creation of a $350,000 library funding district, with money being raised through a property tax that would be added to the School Tax bill.

WRFA spoke with library executive director Annie Greene last week about the proposition. She noted the money is needed to help offset the library’s ongoing funding challenges, especially since the city of Jamestown significantly cut local aid to the library in recent years.

• AUDIO ALSO AVAILABLE AT SOUNDCLOUD

WRFA Public Affairs Director Jason Sample talks with Anne Greene, Executive Director of the James Prendergast Library about the proposition on this year’s Jamestown School Budget/Election ballot that includes the creation of a $350,000 funding district for the library, to be paid for by property owners within the city.

The James Prendergast Library