The Prendergast Library Board of Trustees during its Nov. 30, 2017 special meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The James Prendergast Library board of trustees held a special meeting Thursday determine how to proceed with six classic oil paintings by European artists that were not sold during a recent auction at Sotheby’s. On Nov. 21 a total of nine paintings from the library’s classic art collection were put up for auction, but only three were bid on.

The library board decided earlier this year to sell the classic art collection in order to help address financial challenges, including a decrease in fundraising and a reduction in aid from the city.  The state attorney general’s office permitted the sale of the artwork, but only if done through an auction house.

So far, 12 of the more than 2 dozen classic art paintings from the library have sold for a total of $846,000. The estimated value of the collection is $1.17 million.  The estimated value of the six paintings that didn’t receive a bid at auction is $350,000 to $500,000.

Library board president Tom Rankin informed the board that the two options available is to wait and put the oil paintings back up for auction next year, or they could entertain post-sale offers, in which a prospective buyer could offer Sotheby’s a price below reserve for a painting or paintings and the library board can then determine if it is acceptable or not.

The board voted that the library would try again to auction the artwork through Sotheby’s at a date to be determined, which would most likely be in November 2018.  In the meantime, the board’s finance committee will review any offers that are made and make a recommendation to the full board on whether or not the offer is acceptable, at which time the board would then vote on selling the artwork.

“We’re not trying to solicit offers. If they come in and Sotheby’s sends them to us, we will look at them, but we’re not at this point putting out the word to send us offers,” Rankin said. “Our official position is that we are going to relist them in November 2018.”

Rankin said that currently Sotheby’s has received two offers for two of the six paintings, although he could not disclose what those offers were for.

Rankin also said that despite another recent push on social media calling on residents to request the library keep the six paintings that were unable to receive a bid during the Nov. 21 auction, no one has reached out to library officials to make that request formally known.

“No one has contacted me directly about ‘saving the art’ – to use that term. No one has contacted the board officially. And no one on the board has mentioned that they’ve heard anything,” Rankin said. “The comments I have heard in general are supportive. I think, in general, nobody is happy that we don’t have the art anymore, but people understand, given the way the city has decided to cut our funding in a very draconian way, that we really don’t have choice anymore.”

On Monday the Jamestown City Council approved its 2018 budget, which slashes library funding by $50,000 – a 50 percent decrease  from the current year and a more than 85 percent reduction in funding from what the library was getting in 2015.

Only two members of the public where at Thursday’s meeting and only one person addressed the board, asking questions related to Jesse and Cathy Marion and their offer in 2016 to purchase the artwork and keep it in Jamestown. The Marion’s are a philanthropic couple from Texas who have roots in Chautauqua County and wanted to preserve the art collection for the residents of the city. However, the library was instructed by the state attorney general that it could not sell the collection to a private buyer, but would instead have to sell it through an auction house.

Prior to offering to purchase the collection outright in 2016, the Marions also pledged a $60,000 donation in 2015 if the library would hold off on selling the art collection for one year and work with them on finding an alternate solution. On Thursday night Rankin said the Marions made a donation of just, $30,000 – not the full $60,000.

The library’s finance committee will meet on Dec. 7 to review the two bids, as well as discuss and finalize the 2018 budget. The meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. is open to the public, although any discussion related to the offers for the art collection will likely take place in executive session.

Jasper Francis Cropsey’s Lake George, a painting that was in the Prendergast Library’s classic art collection, sold at an Oct. 6 auction at Sotheby’s for $275,000, more than five times its estimated value.

JAMESTOWN – The James Prendergast Library board of trustees met on Thursday for its October meeting and received an update on the effort to auction off its $1.17 million classic art collection.

Board President Tom Rankin said the first of three auctions of the artwork took place earlier this month through the Sotheby’s auction house in New York and library officials were pleased with the initial results.

“The pieces that were sold were the American painters pieces and was very successful,” Rankin reported to the board and those in attendance. “We discussed with Sotheby’s that because there are still pending auctions and even with the October sales, they haven’t finalized everything because the buyers have 30 days to make payment. So we can’t publicly announce the net profits to the library at this time, but the ‘hammer’ prices are all online at the Sotheby’s website.”

WRFA located six paintings on the Southeby’s website from the Prendergast collection that were sold (complete list located below), including Jasper Francis Cropsey’s Lake George painting, which was estimated to sell for $30,000 to $50,000 but had a final hammer price of $275,000. The other paintings that sold weren’t as valuable as the Cropsey piece, but four of the five did sell higher than the estimated value.

Before auction, the total estimated value of the six paintings was $55,200-$85,800. The actual total sales for the six paintings was $328,500.

The Prendergast Library’s board of trustees during its Oct. 19, 2017 meeting.

Rankin said that any funding from the artwork auction will be applied to the library’s endowment fund, rather than it’s general operating budget, despite there being a budget gap for 2018 due to a proposal by the city to reduce library aid by $50,000. That reduction has yet to be finalized by city council and library officials are hoping the council will restore the cut before approving a final spending plan for the city, which is due by Dec. 1.

“There’s no legal restriction on the money, however [applying it to the general operating budget for next year] doesn’t make good long-term sense for the library because your yearly operational funds are one thing, but this money is supposed to go into the endowment fund and earn money forever, hopefully. So if we spend all the money on our operational budget we’re not helping our endowment and we’re not helping the future of our library.”

The library has been cash-strapped in recent years due to a decline in donations from the community, as well as a reduction in aid from the city of Jamestown. To respond to the financial challenges, the library has already had to draw more money out of its endowment fund that what it generates in annual interest during the past few years.

Two pieces of artwork in the Prendergast collection that will likely go to auction in November 2017: Left: “Industry” by French artist Eugene Romain Thirion – painted in 1874.
Right: “Sleep, Baby, Sleep” by French artist Leon Bazile Perrault, painted in 1884.
Both are from a collection of 32 paintings given to the library at the bequest of the Prendergast family.

The library’s decision to auction its classic art collection was meant with opposition by some members of the community, who felt it should remain in Jamestown for the community to appreciate, as was the intent when the collection was first put together more than a century ago.

A local group known as Save Local Art also identified Texas-based philanthropists with local ties, Jesse and Cathy Marion, to assist with keeping the art in Jamestown. At the end of 2015 the couple had offered to assist with developing a fundraising plan.

The Marions also donated $60,000 to the library at the end of 2015, in order to delay any possible sale and give the library and community time to try and find a way to keep the collection from going to auction.

The Marions later offered to purchase the collection from the library so that it could still stay in Jamestown for the community, but the board ultimately opted not to pursue that offer.

Besides delaying the sale of the art work at the request of the Save Local Art group, the library also had to wait until the State Attorney General’s office granted permission to proceed with deaccessioning the collection, because the paintings were originally purchased for the library at the bequest of local philanthropists on the condition that it permanently own the collection and put it on display for the benefit of the community.  The Attorney General’s Office eventually gave the library authorization to sell the art collection, but only if done through auction.

Meanwhile, the next auction will feature the European artwork from the Prendergast collection and will take place on Nov. 21 through Sotheby’s, with the specific paintings and estimated value to be released two weeks prior to the auction date.  Rankin said a third auction, featuring “lower end” paintings likely take place in January 2018 via the Stair Galleries auction house.

LIST OF PRENDERGAST PAINTINGS SOLD AT OCT. 6 AUCTION

Jasper Francis Cropsey – LAKE GEORGE
Estimate: $30,000 — 50,000
Hammer Price: $275,000
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/american-art-n09635/lot.55.html

Chauncey Foster Ryder – CAMEL’S HUMP
Estimate $3,000 – 5,000
Hammer Price: $16,250
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/american-art-n09635/lot.59.html

William Trost Richards –EBBING TIDE
Estimate $15,000 — 20,000
Hammer Price: $15,000
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/american-art-n09635/lot.54.html

Chauncey Foster Ryder – SNOW IN NOVEMBER
Estimate $3,000 — 5,000
Hammer Price: $11,875
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/american-art-n09635/lot.57.html

John Francis Murphy – THE DAY IS DONE
Estimate $1,200 — 1,800
Hammer Price: $5,625
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/american-art-n09635/lot.56.html

Charles Warren Eaton – AN OCTOBER SUNSET
Estimate $3,000 — 4,000
Hammer Price: $4,750
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/american-art-n09635/lot.58.html

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE

The Prendergast Library art collection has been on display in the Prendergast Library’s Fireplace Room for the past several years.

JAMESTOWN – The Prendergast Library Board of Trustees has unanimously selected Sotheby’s to sell much of its art collection, despite pleas from several area residents who attended Thursday’s board meeting.

The action by the library board took place following nearly two years of effort by a group of area residents who’ve been working to “save the art” and keep the collection intact and in Jamestown, as intended when much of it was first purchased more than a century ago with money willed to the library from the estate of Mary Prendergast.

The most recent assessed value of the collection is $1.17 million, with the library planning to use proceeds from the auction to place in its endowment and use the interest generated to offset financial challenges in annual budget. It’s estimated such a plan would generate anywhere between $35,000 to $50,000 in additional money each year for the library, depending on how much the art actually sells for.

About two dozen people attended Thursday’s meeting, with ten of the attendees addressing the board at the start of the meeting. All but one spoke in favor of keeping the artwork.

Jamestown’s Peter Miraglia is one of several residents who spoke to the library board on Thursday, June 15 as part of an 11th hour effort to request the board not sell the library’s art collection.

Jamestown resident Pete Miraglia requested to board keep the collection, and work to leverage as both a fundraising and educational component of its programming.

“I appreciate that the library board provided the time for a buyer to step forward to keep the art in the community. However, as you know, a recent legal ruling made it virtually impossible to keep the art in Jamestown if it is sold,” Maraglia said, referring to a Surrogate Court decision announced last month that stated that if the artwork is sold, it can only be done through reputable auction house. “There are other ways to provide the library funds from the artwork. One way would be to lease the art to a group, who would house, maintain and promote it. This community has been bringing to life projects that a few years ago no one else could imagine. This is not the time to start going backwards.”

Another city resident, Timothy Starr, said the board was being shortsighted.

“It seems to me like there are options that haven’t been considered. It seems to me that the math doesn’t work very well,” Starr said. “If the collection is only worth one-plus-however-many million dollars, and if the salaries of the library alone are $700,000, or if [the sale proceeds] are added to the endowment and we get $35-$45,000 a year, why is it that that’s being considered as such a drastic solution that will have so little long-term benefit for us?”

And yet another area resident, Bill Locke, who’s also part of the save the art group, read a statement that was purportedly written by Jesse Marion, a Texas-based businessman. He and his wife Cathy, who is from the Jamestown area, are philanthropists who had offered to purchase the collection for its assessed value in order to keep it in Jamestown. That offer was turned down due to conditions outlined in the ruling by the Surrogate Cout.

“Libraries, newspapers and even books themselves are becoming extinct,” Locke read. “Art, however, can be an important cultural connection to our past and present for thousands of  years. Is $30-50,000 a year from increased endowment really worth the destruction of a dream and a treasure? I think not.”

Part of the statement read by Locke also admonished the board for its decision to sell the collection, rather than work with community members to find an alternative solution.

“I suggest that the entire board resign and the library find new leadership with strong personal and financial commitment to the library, the city, and its citizens,” Locke said.

Jeff Holroyd of Jamestown defended the board’s decision to sell the art collection, saying that if residents were in favor of saving the art, they should have supported a public funding referendum for the library that failed in 2016.

Not all who spoke were against selling the artwork. Jeff Holroyd of Jamestown said the library really has no other option after residents failed to support it during last year’s failed funding initiative referendum.

“Everyone had the chance to come and vote and put it on the tax. I know everyone gets touchy about increased taxes, but it was out there and we wouldn’t be having that meeting today if it had passed last year,” Holroyd said, adding, “This isn’t a museum. The sign outside says its a museum but it’s not. Is there a curator here or downstairs qualified to take care of that art that’s deteriorating on a daily basis?”

Following the statements from the public, the board unanimously approved the Sotheby’s resolution with no discussion, comment, or response to any one who spoke or was in attendance. However, following the meeting, Prendergast Board president Tom Rankin said that he and the board remains sympathetic to the Save the Art supporters.

“I sympathize with the folks that want to keep the collection, I absolutely sympathize with them. I don’t want you to think otherwise,” Rankin said. “I think when those folks asked us to delay once again selling the art collection, the board felt strongly that we’ve waited long enough. We’ve suffered some financial setbacks beyond our control, and we really need to help ourselves at this point so we can keep the doors open.”

Rankin said that the terms of the contract with Sotheby’s is that the library will receive 100 percent of any final bid placed on any artwork that is sold at auction. He said that the media should check with Sotheby’s to get the specific details on how it will make its profit. It’s believed that will happen by assessing buyers fee on anyone who purchases a piece of art at auction.

The artwork will be sent to Sotheby’s in the coming weeks so it can be cleaned and prepared for auction, with the sale likely taking place in the fall.

The only artwork that will remain in possession of the Predengast Library are the pieces that have a direct connection to Jamestown’s and the surrounding area’s history, such as portraits of the Prendergast family.

The Prendergast Library art collection has been on display in the Prendergast Library’s Fireplace Room for the past several years.

JAMESTOWN – The James Prendergast Library board of trustees will hold its monthly meeting Thursday, with the possibility of library officials acting on a measure involving the future of the Prendergast art collection, with an estimated value of $1.17 million dollars.

Last month the library announced it had reached an agreement with the state’s attorney general’s office that would allow it to sell the collection, but only if done so by auction. The agreement was necessary because the library had filed a request with Surrogate Court to allow the auction to proceed, but the AG’s office was initially against the sale. The primary concern from the AG was that library, which is a nonprofit organization, may not receive the actual full value if it were to just sell the collection to any buyer. Instead, the AG insisted the sale only take place via an auction.

With the agreement in place, the board can now proceed with identifying an auction house to facilitate the sale, and there’s a possibility they will select an auction house during today’s meeting.

BOARD SUPPORTS SELLING COLLECTION, DESPITE LOCAL EFFORT TO SAVE IT

The library board is in unanimous support of selling the collection, saying it would help with the financial challenges the library currently faces. In recent years the library has seen the amount of public donations decrease, and last year the Jamestown City Council, due to the city’s on financial challenges, voted to eliminate $250,000 in contributions to the library. That amounted to a 21 percent cut in operational revenue for the library.

Prendergast Library board president Tom Rankin talks with attendees, many of them in favor of saving the art collection, during an October 2015 public input session. Despite the support expressed during that meeting and other meetings the past two years, Rankin has recently said there is overwhelming public support to sell the artwork.

Board president Tom Rankin also recently said in an op-ed piece that there is overwhelming support in the community to sell the collection, with 99 percent of the participants saying that “the library should no longer have an art collection or even be in the ‘museum business.'”

However, WRFA spoke with some community members who support keeping the art earlier this week, and they disagree with Rankin’s statement.

“My wife and I ran into a gentleman from Westfield, an art collector and art enthusiast, and he was in one of those focus groups. There were 12 people in his focus group. When presented with the option to sell the art or keep it, not a single person said, ‘Sell the art.’ I have another friend who was in a separate focus group and he describes the same situation. So I think Mr. Rankin is a little off in his facts,” explained local resident Bill Locke.

“There are a lot of people who think they should sell the art, that is true,” added another member of the group, Robert Plyler, who until recently also wrote for the Post-Journal.  “But most of those people have never heard the whole story of what has gone on and one of the problems has been the difficulty we’ve had of getting the three news papers to share that story. People would write to me and say ‘I love that art. I grew up on it. My parents took me to see it. I want it saved’ and I would say, ‘Well write to the paper.’ They would reply with, ‘I did, but it was never printed.’ Person after person told me that.”

Rankin also suggests that those who support keeping the artwork in Jamestown at the library are comprise a loosely organized group who have done nothing to help raise money or offer suggestions on how the library can fix its financial situation.

Plyler takes issue with that, pointing out that it was the local residents who were able to bring the Texas-based couple Jesse and Cathy Marion into the discussion (Cathy Marion is also a Jamestown-area native), and they ended up making a $60,000 donation to the library, while also offering help in save the collection by working to upgrade the library facilities.

The Prendergast Library Association Board of Trustees during its May 2017 board meeting.

“The board at first said they wanted to sell the art collection because they library didn’t have the appropriate facilities to accommodate an expensive art collection,” Plyler said. “[The Marions] were shocked that this artwork was in danger so they offered to pay for the cleaning, the repairs, the framing, and the security system, the climate control, and so on. Everyone thought ‘well good, the problem is solved.’ But that turned out to not really be why the library board wanted to sell the art. They wanted the money.”

The Marions then donated $60,000 to the library to buy time in order for officials to come up with an alternative plan to selling the collection. And late last year they offered to purchase the entire art collection for its assessed value of $1.17 million so that it would continue to stay in the community, even if the library no longer wanted it. But that offer had to be turned down because of the agreement with the attorney general’s office.

Rankin has stated that the board will no longer delay the effort to sell the artwork in order to find an alternative solution.

“The library’s funding problems dictate that the library cannot wait up to another twenty-four months to sell the art collection,” Rankin said in the recent op-ed. “The library will now proceed to sell its art collection through an auction house that can successfully handle a collection of this size and quality.”

The library board meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. Thursday in the Library Fireplace room and is open to the public.

The Prendergast Library art collection has been on display in the Prendergast Library’s Fireplace Room for the past several years.

JAMESTOWN – Contrary to what officials with the James Prendergast Library have said in recent weeks, there has been an effort to provide significant funding for the financially-strapped library as part of an effort to keep its classic Art Collection in the community.

In May, the Prendergast Library board announced it had reach an agreement with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, allowing it to move forward with  an auction to sell individual pieces in the collection, valued at $1.17 million. Library officials have said that maintaining the art collection does not fall in line with the library’s current mission, and that by selling the collection, it would help to offset the financial challenges currently faced by the library.

Much of the art collection was purchased decades ago by money bequeathed to the library by founder Mary Prendergast upon her passing. Prendergast felt the community deserved to have access to high caliber artwork and it should be displayed in the library. In her will she left $25,000 for the library to purchase artwork, on the condition that it always be owned an maintained by the library. However, Due to the financial problems facing the library, the board had sought permission from Surrogate Court to nullify the terms of that bequethment, in order to allow for the artwork to be sold.

Since the library board first announced it was considering selling the collection, a group of concerned residents have come forward to oppose the idea, saying the artwork was intended to benefit the Jamestown community and that by selling the artwork the library board would be going against the wishes of the benefactor who provided the initial funding to purchase the artwork. The group even started a Facebook Page to keep the community updated on its efforts.

Prendergast board president Tom Rankin discussing the art collection during the September 2015 meeting of the Prendergast Library Board of Trustees.

However, despite the appeal by the group who oppose the sale, Library Board President Tom Rankin has said that none of them have come forward to help find a solution for the financial problems facing the library.

“I would disagree with the idea that it controversial to sell the art collection,” Rankin told WRFA during a May 2017 interview. “There’s a vast majority in the community that supports the sale. There’s a vocal minority that opposes the sale, and we acknowledge that group, but I’ll also say that group doesn’t really help the library. We don’t see them helping with fundraising. We don’t see them supporting us. They say ‘Don’t sell the art’ and that’s that’s the only thing they say or do. The art collection is something the board firmly intends to sell at some point in the future and use the proceeds from that to fund our endowment.”

Rankin has also said that despite wanting to keep the artwork in the community, no one from the group had come forward to purchase it.

“No person, group or entity in Chautauqua County ever approached the library about buying the collection,” Rankin was quoted in a recent article in the Jamestown Post-Journal.

While that may be true, a person with local ties to the community had in fact made an offer to buy the collection.

Texas-based philanthropist Jesse Marion came to Jamestown in October 2015 and made a plea to the Prendergast Board to not sell the art collection, offering to offer financial help to ensure it remains in Jamestown. Later that year he donated $60,000 as a good-will gesture to help the library close a budget gap in its 2016 budget.

WRFA reached out to Texas-based Philanthropist Jesse Marion late last month to get his reaction to the news that the library would be moving forward to auction its art collection, valued at $1.17 million. Marion and his wife Cathy, who’s a native of the Jamestown area and who’ve provided significant financial support to SUNY Fredonia, donated $60,000 to the library at the end of 2015 as a good-will gesture, in the hopes it could buy time for the board to come up with an alternative plan to auctioning the art collection.

In a response to WRFA, Jesse Marion confirms he did make a significant offer to help save the artwork while also addressing the library’s financial problems.

“In November 2016 we had board approval to purchase the art for a $1,170,000 (Sotheby’s estimate),” Marion stated. “We were in final stages of negotiating a purchase agreement when the library halted the effort due to the [New York Attorney General’s] ruling that the board could not sell the art. We have been on hold ever since.” (Jesse Marion’s full statement to WRFA can be found at the end of this article.)

Rankin acknowledges the Marion’s effort, though he offered a slightly different take on the matter.

“There was a possibility (of a deal) for 2017. The Marions had an option, but did not elect to enforce it,” Rankin said in the Post-Journal article.

The $1.17 million offer from the Marions to purchase the artwork has turned out to be a moot issue, because – according to Rankin – the Attorney General’s Office had opposed the selling of the artwork in Surrogate Court. It only lifted that opposition once the Prendergast Library agreed that it would only sell the collection through a reputable auction house, and not independently to a single individual or entity. This was apparently because the Attorney General’s office wants to ensure that, when the library sells the artwork, it will receive the full value.

WRFA has reached out the Attorney General’s office for verification of its initial opposition and of the conditions by which the opposition was lifted, but has so far not received a reply.

Two pieces of artwork in the Prendergast collection that could be auctioned in the coming months:         Left: “Industry” by French artist Eugene Romain Thirion (painted in 1874). Right: “Sleep, Baby, Sleep” by French artist Leon Bazile Perrault, painted in 1884.
Both are from a collection of 32 paintings purchased by the library with money given at the bequest of Mary Prendergast.

Marion said that he and his wife are very disappointed in the Attorney General Office’s ruling.

“It is truly unfortunate that the AG could not let the board proceed with our purchase. It will be very embarrassing if the sale proceeds are significantly less than our offer,” he said in his statement.

He also said that when he and his wife donated $60,000 in 2015, they did not know, nor were they informed, that the library was prevented from selling the artwork.

“We donated money to the library in order to buy time and find an alternative to selling the art through auction. At the time, we did not know the library did not have authority to sale the art and in fact was seeking court approval to do so,” Marion said.

And Marion also went to the defense of the group of people who are trying to save the art collection and keep it in tact, in Jamestown.

“Early on we met with and participated in the formation of an organization committed to keeping the art in Jamestown. This dedicated group was not only interested in preservation of the art but also the library. They are very respected in the community (maybe not by the library board),” Marion said, adding, “We feel they have been unfairly criticized by Mr. Rankin.”

The library board’s next scheduled meeting will be this Thursday, June 15, at 5:15 p.m. in the library’s fireplace room.  It’s not known if they will take any action on moving forward with auctioning the sale of the art collection.

WRFA will also featuring several individuals who’ve been working to save the artwork during this week’s edition of Community Matters, which will be broadcast at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

– – –

JESSE MARION’S FULL STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO THE NY ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE PERMITTING THE AUCTION OF THE PRENDERGAST ART COLLECTION

We are very disappointed in the outcome of the ruling by the Attorney General on the Prendergast art collection. We donated money to the library in order to buy time and find an alternative to selling the art through auction. At the time, we did not know the library did not have authority to sell the art and in fact was seeking court approval to do so.

In November 2016 we had board approval to purchase the art for a $1,170,000 (Sotheby’s estimate). We were in final stages of negotiating a purchase agreement when the library halted the effort due to the Attorney General’s ruling that the board could not sale the art. We have been on hold ever since.

Early on we met with and participated in the formation of an organization committed to keeping the art in Jamestown. This dedicated group was not only interested in preservation of the art but also the library. They are very respected in the community (maybe not by the library board). We feel they have been unfairly criticized by Mr. Rankin.

It is truly unfortunate that the Attorney General could not let the board proceed with our purchase. It will be very embarrassing if the sale proceeds are significantly less than our offer.

Jamestown will again lose an important connection to its past and the citizens will have lost a treasure they will never replace.

JAMESTOWN – The James Prendergast Library will be reducing the number of hours that it will be open each week, starting in July.

On Thursday the library board of trustees held its monthly meeting and voted cut the hours of operation by 10.5 hours per week. The move means the library will now be open only 55 hours each week rather than the current 65.5 hours.

The new hours of operation, starting July 1, will be:

• Monday – Thursday: 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Library officials say the reduction in hours will save the library more than $30,000 during the second half of this year. The savings would come via cuts in staffing.

The board also said it’s likely the library will not fill a currently vacant maintenance position, which will result in another $20,000 in savings for this year. Between the two, the library will see $50,000 in salary expenses cut from  the current year’s budget and will help to close a looming budget gap for next year.

BOARD CUTS BACK ON MATERIAL PURCHASES

In addition the board also acted on a motion to cut spending on new materials (such as books and DVDs) by $24,000, bringing the total line item down to $74,000 for the year. The $24,000 was to come out of the library’s endowment fund and the board voted 3 to 2 on returning that amount to the endowment. Board members Tom Price and Michelle McRay voted against the motion, with Price against the idea of returning the money to the endowment, saying it may have to be used for some other expense later in the year.

Jamestown resident Doug Champ addresses the James Prendergast Library Board of Trustees during its board meeting Thursday, June 16.

Board president Tom Rankin explained that the Thursday’s budget cuts were not the result of any shortfalls in the current year’s budget, but intended instead to be a proactive step to prepare for financial challenges in 2017.

“We’re a not-for-profit,” Rankin explained to WRFA following the meeting. “Our goal is to have enough money to pay the bills starting January 1. So we don’t know what the city will do with [it’s annual contribution] and we don’t know what the foundations will do. We’re trying to create a rainy day fund at this point so that when we do hit January 1, 2017, we have some money in the bank.”

The board’s budget cuts come following a public referendum earlier this month when voters rejected an $850,000 annual funding initiative for the library, which would have been paid via a tax on property owners in the Jamestown School District. In addition the city of Jamestown is facing major financial challenges for 2017 and may have to reduce or completely eliminate it’s annual contribution to the library, which was $350,000 for the current year.

Prior to Thursday’s cuts the library’s operating budget for 2016 was $1,132,000. In 2015 it was $1,188,000.

STRATEGIC PLANNING TO BEGIN THIS SUMMER

Rankin also addressed the public at the start of the meeting, noting that the library was disappointed with the funding initiative, but that they respect the outcome and the process, adding that it’s time to move forward. As a result he said the board has traditionally taken the months of July and August off and reconvened in September, but given the financial concerns on the horizon, it will hold meetings both in July and August. During that time the board will also begin the process of working on a multi-year strategic plan for the library, with Rankin saying that the process will include input from various stakeholders, including patrons and and the general public.

Rankin also once again indicated the the library’s art collection, which has an estimated value of $3.17 million, will likely have to be sold in an effort to add money to the endowment. In December the board said it would hold off on auctioning the collection until at least January 2017. That decision was made after a Texas-based couple, Jesse and Cathy Marion, with local ties offered to donate $60,000 to the library. In exchange the library would give those who want to see the collection stay in Jamestown one year to identify local supporters who’d be willing to purchase the collection and keep it in town so that it can continue to be available for the public to view.

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE

The Prendergast Library Board of Directors during its Dec. 17, 2015 meeting.

Board president Tom Rankin announced during the December board meeting that Texas-based couple Jesse and Cathy Marion have offered to provide $60,000 to the library in 2016 in order to help close a budget deficit. In exchange, the library’s board will wait a minimum of 12 months before it reconsiders auctioning its art collection, which is valued at $3.17 million.

Instead, the library will work with the Marions in identifying local patrons and supporters who may be willing to purchase the collection so that it can remain in the Jamestown area and available for the public to view, as intended when the artwork was originally purchased.

Much of the collection includes 19th and early 20th century paintings by artists from America and Europe that were gifted to the library by various residents, including the Prendergast family during the early and mid 20th century. The art collection also including portraits of several Prendergast family members. The Prendergast family were one of the early settlers of Chautauqua County, with James Prendergast eventually settling and establishing the community that would later become Jamestown.

Following the meeting, Rankin told WRFA the board was very thankful for the Marion’s support.

“We’re very happy,” Rankin said. “It was very generous of Mr. Marion. He didn’t have to do that. He understands our financial position and he’s trying to keep the artwork in the community. We were able to find a common ground and come to terms on an agreement, at least for this year, and hopefully we will have some civic-minded investors come out who want to get together and buy the art collection.”

Rankin also said the goal for the library is to try and add $2 million to its endowment fund, which was one of the reasons why the board was looking to auction of its art collection in the first place. In addition, he said the library facilities are not the best place to store and present paintings that are over 100 years old, although he said the paintings with local historical relevance would be kept.

“We don’t want to have museum-quality art when a. – we don’t have the space for it, and b. – we can’t afford to maintain that kind of artwork,” Rankin said. “But, we do want to keep the portraits of the Prendergast family and the artwork from the Prendergast estate that shows the homestead in Kiantone. We always want to keep those.”

In August, the library board announced it had reached a deal with Sotheby’s to serve as the agent to auction off the art collection. The board explained the auction was necessary to raise funding for the library’s endowment, which would then result in a larger annual revenue stream.

When the plan was announced a number of individuals in the community voiced their concern over the library selling the artwork. Two months later during the October board meeting, Jesse Marion proposed to pay for the cost of restoring artwork and helping to pay for an upgrade of the library’s space to accommodate showing the collection.

The Marion’s interest in the collection is largely due to the couple being a supporter of the arts and Cathy Marion being a Jamestown native. The couple has been involved in several fundraising campaigns in their current home of Houston and also at with the the Fredonia College Foundation.

Rankin did say that the board would proceed with auctioning off six tapestries by modern artist Alexander Calder. Those tapestries could bring in as much as $35,000 – which would be put into the library’s endowment fund.

Also during Thursday’s meeting, the board announced it was not going to layoff any employees in 2016, due to the Marion’s contribution. However, the decision to close the library on Sundays in order to help cut back on costs will remain in place.

The Prendergast Library board has cancelled its meeting for Thursday due to a lack of a quorum. The meeting will not be rescheduled. Instead the board will resume discussing its budget during its next regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 17, 2015 at 12:15.

-j. sample

# # #

JAMESTOWN – The Prendegast Library Board of Trustees will hold its has cancelled its November meeting Thursday afternoon due to a lack of a quorum. The next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 17 at 12:15 p.m.

The board is wrestling with a budget deficit for not only this year, but also for the upcoming year. To deal with the shortfall, the board has already made the decision to cut at least one full time position and also reduce its hours of operation, with it no longer being open on Sundays. The library is also awaiting the finalization of the 2016 Jamestown City Budget so it knows exactly how much funding it will receive from the city next year.

This year the city gave the library $365,000 – but Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi has called for a $15,000 cut for next year. The Jamestown City Council has yet to decide if it will go with the cut or reduce funding even further. With the city facing its own budget shortfall, it’s unlikely any of the library funding will be restored.

Earlier this week, the city council met with Library Director Tina Scott to learn more about the library’s services and operating deficit. One of the questions brought forward was fundraising, with city council president Greg Rabb asking why there was a significant drop in public donations in recent years.  Scott and library trustee Joni Blackman explained that patron donations have gone down over time primarily because younger patrons are not donating at the same level as their senior counterparts. They also acknowledged that the public’s disappointment with previous library director Linda Mielke has also played a role in a decline in donations.

FATE OF ART COLLECTION STILL NOT KNOWN

Two pieces of artwork in the Prendergast collection that could be auctioned in the coming months: Left: “Industry” by French artist Eugene Romain Thirion – painted in 1874.
Right: “Sleep, Baby, Sleep” by French artist Leon Bazile Perrault, painted in 1884.
Both are from a collection of 32 paintings given to the library at the bequest of the Prendergast family.

The library board during its December meeting may also provide an update on its art collection, which is worth more than $3 million. The board is considering auctioning off some of the collection in order to raise funding for its endowment, which can then be used to help offset any operating deficits in future years.It has already approved a contract with Sotheby’s to be the agency to assist with selling the paintings, should they be deaccessioned.

The proposal to sell off some of the art collection has been met with resistance from some members of the community, who would prefer the collection remain in tact, rather than sold at auction. Houston businessman Jesse Marion and his wife Cathy Marion – a Jamestown native – have offered to provide funding to pay for the cost of restoring and exhibiting the collection. Library board president Tom Rankin said last month they will discuss that proposal further.

Thursday’s library board meeting begins at 12:15 p.m. in the library Fireplace Room and is open to the public.