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.

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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.

During the public hearing, only two individuals spoke on the budget. One was Jamestown resident Doug Champ, who criticized city officials for not being creative enough to bring new economic development into the region, which has resulted in stagnate growth and the city reaching its constitutional tax limit.

“I assume that none of you wants a control board and you’ve not worked in a city with a control board, but that’s what you’re going to get. It’s just a matter of time before it’s going to happen. If you’re at 99.9 percent [of the constitutional tax limit] you might as well be at 100 percent. It’s just a matter of time for that to happen,” Champ said. “Why are we there? We’re there because the development and the full assessment of this city has not kept up with the rising cost of the public services. We do not know how to attract private  investment.”

Champ also criticized the city for not doing enough to promote its assets – such as the BPU – and location to help recruit research and development projects.

“We sit here with these assets, not understanding how we can attract research and development opportunities from outside the area,” Champ said. “The mayor should be traveling to economic development conferences around the country and have a bill of knowledge to provide to these people that are interested in doing things.”

Besides Champ, the only other person to speak out on the budget was resident Bill Locke, who urged the city to continue the same level of support for the James Prendergast Library as it has in the past. The mayor’s budget proposal calls for cutting $15,000 in funding to the library, giving it $350,000 in 2016.

COUNCIL REVIEWS SERVICE AGENCY FUNDING

Following the public hearing, city officials also held a work session to focus on the budget and met with representatives from three local agencies that receive funding from the city – the Prendergast Library, the Fenton History Center, and the Jamestown Area Senior Center.

During the meeting with Prendergast Library Director Tina Scott, the council asked about the library’s operations and services, as well as why fundraising for the library has gone down by nearly $100,000 during the past decade. Scott and board member Joni Blackman explained that a large portion of the donors for the library were seniors and that pool of donors has declined in size over the years, without younger adults stepping in to offset the loss. They also acknowledged concern from the community regarding the previous director, Linda Mielke, which led to a number of supporters no longer donating to the library.

Besides the library, the Senior Center is also slated to see a cut in funding. The mayor’s budget proposes cutting the entire $5,000 in annual funding the center receives. Activities director Shirley Vandenburg said if the funding is cut completely in next year’s budget, the senior center will have to close. In response city council members asked Vandenburg about other possible funding sources. The senior center provides services for about 130 seniors each month and is located at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 556 E. Second St.

The council also talked with Blackman, who also serves as the executive director of the Fenton History Center. Because the city owns the Fenton Mansion and related property, it is required to continue paying the cost for the upkeep of the facility. As a result, the Fenton did not see any reduction in funding for 2016.

So far, the council has yet to make any changes to the mayor’s $35.1 million executive budget, which is calling for a tax hike of 5.6 percent. The next budget work session is at 7 p.m. next Monday, Nov. 23. The council has until Dec. 1 to complete and pass a budget.

Prendergast Library Executive Director Tina Scott. (Photo from Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System)

JAMESTOWN – The newly appointed executive director of the James Prendergast Library Association says she ready to help continue to make the library a community destination in the 21^st century.

Prendergast Executive Director Tina Scott was officially appointed to her new post by library board during its April voting session. But while she’s only be serving in her new capacity for less than a month, she’s already has plenty of experience.

Prior to her appointment, Scott was acting director for both the Prendergast Library and the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System, a position she moved into after the former embattled executive director, Linda Mielke, was removed from her position by the library system board. Prior to her role as acting director, Scott had served as assistant director for four years. 

Earlier this year, both the library system and the Prendergast boards made the decision to split that executive director position, so that they will no longer be held by the same individual. Scott was appointed as executive director of the Prendergast shortly after that decision had been made.

In an interview with WRFA, Scott says that compared to last year, when the library was the center of controversy because of disappointment with some of Mielke’s decisions, 2013 is off to a much smoother start…

“I’m happy to say I think the community has relaxed a bit,” Scott says, adding, “I’m happy if [community members] are interested. I also would like to say it’s great when they are interested in a constructive way and give us feedback. That’s really what we are looking for and I think the board is looking for that… We’re hear to make a positive change and not ruffle feathers. You can’t make everybody happy all the time. But if you try to explain why you’re doing things, people will find that there is always a reason for any decision that is made.”

As far as priorities go for this year, Scott says she will be helping to work toward several new initiatives, but the top priority on her list right now is fundraising.

“Fundraising is always at the top of our list because we are down compared to past years, so we have several things coming up. I will say that right now, moving forward, I see us working on policies. We had a workshop recently that was just wonderful. Talking about policies, how they’ve changed over their years and how we need to update those to keep in line with other libraries and with the law and so on.”

To help out with Fundraising, Scott and the library board have are working on several new fundraising initiatives. Among them is the first ever Prendergast Scrabble Tournament, set to take place Saturday May 18 at the library. Other fundraising efforts include the Cummins Run for Literacy on May 11 and the annual book sale on June 7 and June 8 – which will take place this year at the Lillian Ney Renaissance Center in Jamestown.

You can hear more from Scott and her plans for the Prendergast Library during Community Matters program, set to air tonight at 6 p.m. on WRFA.

In additional to Scott, we’ll also her from a local entrepreneur who is working toward re-opening the Forest Heights golf course on the southside of Jamestown.

The James Prendergast Library in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN – The James Prendergast Library will soon have its own executive director. Yesterday the Prendergast Library Association (JPLA) Board of Directors voted on splitting the Executive Director Position between the JPLA and the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System (CCLS). The vote came after the CCLS board had already made the decision last week to split the position.

Prendergast Library Board President Tom Price says that for nearly 50 years, the CCLS and JPLA shared the executive director position – with the library contracting with CCLS to use the executive director in-house. However, he says a couple of issues have lead to the CCLS Board deciding it was time to no longer have the system executive director also serving the JPLA.

“The primary reason for what we decided on is coming from the impetus from the member libraries wanting to have their own search committee and approve someone that is going to be able to devote 100 percent of their time to their operation. So that’s the primary reason, but the other is to clarify different roles between the system and the JPLA,” Price told WRFA following Thursday’s meeting.

Price said that the change shouldn’t impact services locally at the Prendergast, nor should it have an adverse financial impact on the library. He also said that it’s unlikely the situation with the previous embattled executive director – Linda Mielke – played much of a role in the system’s decision. The CCLS board terminated its contract with Mielke in September 2012, less than a year after being hired.

Right now, former assistant director Tina Scott is serving as acting executive director. Price says she will continue in that capacity for both the JPLS and the CCLS until both can develop a transition plan and go through the proper hiring process.

The James Prendergast Library in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN – The board of trustees for the James Prendergast Library will have several new faces the next time it meets in January.

During Thursday’s monthly meeting, the board approved the appointment of four new trustees to the board. They are Karl Holmgren, Linda Larkin, Michelle “Micki” McCray and Lynn Warner. The four were selected from a pool of nine individuals who expressed interest in serving on the board to fill several open seats. In addition, the board also recognized three outgoing trustees – Russ Diethrick , Jim Roselle and Anne Hedin.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the board also received an update on finances from Treasurer Tom Rankin, who said that despite some fundraising challenges, the library’s revenues will exceed expenditures for 2012. He said the library experienced lower costs than projected, and that was largely due to the work of former Executive Director Linda Mielke, along with members of the staff.

When it came to fundraising, however, the library was still well below its goal of $155,000. As for the middle of December, a total of $103,000 had been donated, compared to over $140,000 that was brought in the previous year. Acting Executive Director Tina Scott said that she and her staff, along with the new board, will begin exploring various ways to bring those fundraising totals up when they meet again in January.

The library also discussed looking into possibly splitting the position of Executive Director. Currently, the executive director heads not only the operations at the Prendergast, but also oversees the operation of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System. Trustee Pat Smith said that she and Scott will be looking into that possibility in the coming weeks and may have more information during the next meeting.

The James Prendergast Library in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN – Members of the James Prendergast Library Board of Trustees are hoping that the month of December will yield more donations. The board held its monthly meeting Thursday afternoon and discussed several items, including fundraising.

Board treasurer Tom Rankin said that fundraising from individual donors is down $33,000, but he’s hoping that an end-of-year letter appeal will help to close the fundraising gap. He said that he’s also heard from a few donors who’ve given in the past, but did not plan to this year.

The library was the subject of some public scrutiny earlier this year when then-library director Linda Mielke was overseeing the operation. Under Mielke the library saw a shift in its collections policy and also a significant change over in library staff. Mielke was let go by the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library system in early September of this year and Tina Scott is now serving as Executive Director.

Although the library is down in fundraising this year, the board is hoping an end-of-year appeal to past donors will bring in additional funding. Rankin added that although revenue is down this year at the library, expenses are also down this year. He added that if there is any deficit at the end of the year in the library’s bottom line, the board does have money in its endowment fund to close that gap.

In addition to funding, the library board was also updated on the effort to find new board members to replace those who have left the board or who’s terms will be expiring at the end of this year. In its request for board member applications from the public, the library received a total of nine candidates. There will be a total of five vacancies in January, including the seat of current board member Russ Diethrick – who will term-out at the end of the year. Paul Leone also resigned from the board earlier this month, so his seat is also no open for a new board member. The board is expected to finalize its candidates and select the incoming board members during its next meeting on Dec. 22.

The James Prendergast Library in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN – Officials at the James Prendergast Library in Jamestown say fundraising for this year is significantly lower compared to last year. During the October board meeting of the library’s board of trustees, board treasurer Tom Rankin told board members that fundraising for 2012 through Oct. 18 was at just over $81,600. That’s about 30 percent lower than where the library was at the same date for 2011 and also just over half of the $155,000 in total fundraising the library had budgeted for this year.

The largest decrease in fundraising comes from individual donors, which is down about $22,000 compared to last year. In 2011, the library had received nearly $65,000 in donations by October 18. This year, that amount is just under $43,000 over the same time period.

The library’s annual Run for Literacy fundraiser also saw a significant decrease in participation. The event raised $958 this year. Last year it brought in eight ties that amount – for a total of $7,713.

A contributing factor for the decrease in fundraising includes a number of concerned residents who have gone on record saying they would not give to the library this year. The primary reason given was their concern with the direction the library was heading in under library Executive Director Linda Mielke – who served in that position from November 2011 to August 2012. She was let go at the beginning of September by the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System.  Former Assistant Director Tina Scott is now serving as acting executive director for both the Prendergast and the library system.

The Run for Literacy – which had previously taken place in the late spring – was held this year in early October. That change in date may have also played a role in why participation for that event was down.

Library officials are asking the public to step up and help it reach its fundraising goal for 2012. Anyone wishing to donate can do so by stopping by the library or going online to Prendergastlibrary.org.

The James Prendergast Library in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN – The James Prendergast Library board of trustees held its first meeting following the ouster of embattled executive director Linda Mielke Thursday afternoon. The meeting began with comment from the public, including local resident Pat Anzideo, who urged the library board to move forward and work toward find a suitable replacement for Mielke and also requested that the board stay focused on correcting any current issues.

• READ FULL STATEMENT FROM ANZIDEO
• READ JAMESTOWN POST-JOURNAL ARTICLE ON MEETING

In addition to Anzideo, three other residents also spoke out, either voicing their concern for the state of the library or urging the board to move forward in looking for a suitable replacement for Mielke. Currently, former assistant director Tina Scott is serving as Acting Director.

The board did not discuss what course of action, if any, would be taken in finding a new director, although it is believed the process would be overseen by the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System board, which will next meet during its annual meeting on Oct. 10 in Olean.

In addition to the public comment, it was also learned that the Library’s fundraising totals are significantly lower this year compared to just a year earlier. Board trustee and treasurer Tom Rankin said the library’s fundraising efforts are down over $38,000 from the previous year and $77,600 under the goal for 2012. Rankin also pointed out the the library will have a new line item in its budget for attorney fees  – although he would not give the specific reason for the anticipated legal expenses.

The board also discussed its funding request it will be making to the city of Jamestown. The library is hoping to receive $379,440 from the city in 2013 – up 2 percent from the current year’s total. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi will announce his budget proposal for 2013 early next month.

• VIEW TODAY’S AGENDA

Today’s meeting will begin at 12:15 p.m. in the Fireplace Room of the Library. It is open to the public.

The James Prendergast Library in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN – The woman who was hired as the Executive Director of the James Prendergast Library and Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System less than a year ago is no longer at that position.

Officials with the Prendergast Library board of trustees announced the departure of Linda Mielke in a short, four-sentence media release Thursday afternoon. According to the release, former assistant director Tina Scott will serve as Acting Director for both organizations. The release also said that library services will continue uninterrupted and both boards will continue to work for the delivery of these services to the citizens of the community and the two counties. The release did not state the reason for Mielke’s release, only that both the library and the system appreciate her services to the community during her tenure.

Mielke was hired in late October of last year and began her position at the library in November. Since that time, she has been credited with expanding the library hours, changing the layout of the reference and video departments to streamline the way patrons find items, and also began the effort to renovate the Prendergast Children’s Library Room and upgrade the library’s restroom facilities.

However, Mielke has also been the center of controversy since February of this year. It was at that time that former employees and patrons criticized her for allegedly significantly reducing the number of books in the reference department, as well as the subscriptions to magazines and periodicals. She was also criticized for changes to the library’s collection policy. Perhaps the harshest criticism came by way of former employees, who stated that Mielke created a work atmosphere that resulted in low employee morale. Since her arrival last fall, several long-time staff members were either let go or quit, along with several other part-time employees.

Prendergast Library Board President Tom Price tells WRFA that the decision to fire Mielke ultimately came down from the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System board, and that it only came after a lengthy evaluation process. He adds, however, that the Prendergast Library board acted in concert with the system board during the evaluation process and when making the final decision. He also said that no severance package was given to Mielke upon termination. Her final day was Wednesday and Scott took over as acting director on Thursday morning.

The Library board will decide how to proceed with the director position during its next public meeting, which is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 20.