Libraries speak out against state budget

Members of the State Assembly and executives of the Levittown and Seaford public libraries gathered at a news conference at the Levittown facility last Friday to discuss Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget plan, which was announced Jan. 18.

In Hochul’s proposed $216.3 billion spending plan for 2022-23, $20 million would be cut from library construction aid, from $34 million in the current budget to $14 million next year

If the spending plan is approved by the State Legislature, it will take effect April 1.

Assemblyman John Mikulin, of the 17th District, said that he had previously been president of the Island Trees Library board, and knew firsthand how important library construction aid is.

“Libraries really are the [forefront] of our communities,” Mikulin said. “They do so much for our children, they do so much for our seniors and they do so much for everybody in general with the programs that they have and the services that libraries provide.”

Frank McKenna, director of the Seaford Public Library said the cut to library construction aid is “very disappointing.”

“Libraries are education,” McKenna said. “We are always education. We serve everybody from infancy to old age, why are we always cut?”

McKenna said that the money is most definitely needed by libraries. Seaford Public Library just put a new roof in, he said, but the library still needs a new elevator, a new HVAC system and a new bathroom on the main level.

“[The library] is over 60 years old, it’s falling apart,” he said. “We need money.”

State Assemblyman Ed Ra, who represents the 19th District, said that library funding is cut every year. “It’s no secret to anybody that utilizes our local libraries that just like any other building, they need upkeep, they need boilers, they need HVAC systems, they need to replace roofs,” Ra said. “…We stand with our local libraries in the push to restore this funding and increase funding for library construction.”

While library construction funding would be reduced in the proposed state budget, Ra said that general library funding would increase by about $2 million, which he said was “welcome news.”

“Most years in the past Governor Cuomo would actually cut it by about $2 million or $4 million,” Ra said. “We would then have to spend the budget process trying to claw back that money.”

Steve Dalton, a trustee of the Levittown Public Library and a 10-year past member of the Nassau Library System Board, said that library construction aid is critical for all libraries across New York State.

“This is funding that goes to repair roofs, make energy-efficient upgrades such as HVAC upgrades…,” Dalton said. “A 60 percent cut, $20 million state-wide will have a direct negative impact on libraries from Baldwin to Buffalo.”

Hochul, he said, should understand that this cut is “unacceptable.” Further, libraries will do everything they can to lobby state representatives to be their voice in the effort to change it. “It’s pivotal,” Dalton said. “Libraries are tired of being political pawns in the budget, where the governor cuts and the Legislature has to fight to restore.”

The New York State Division of Library Development said that there are over $60 million in critical upgrades needed in the physical plants of libraries across the state, Dalton said. “The library construction aid will allow those libraries to address the infrastructure issues today,” he said, “not two years from now, four years from now, 10 years from now.”