To the Editor:

Thank you for your coverage, in the Dec. 10, 2020 Enterprise, of the discussion of the reopening of the Guilderland Public Library, the services it offers, and the discussion of staff furloughs.

The joy of my experiences at the Guilderland Public Library and what I know about libraries during the pandemic made me really confused and unhappy when I read about the latest Library Board of Trustees’ meeting.

Much of the meeting discussed reopening. I would like nothing better than to be able to roam the stacks.

But the discussion seemed to not recognize staff safety concerns during the pandemic, not to mention the risk to community members and workers on the rebuilding project if people were infected from in-person contact.

Some assert the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been less than active during the pandemic. However, New York State has specific mandates to protect public employee safety and health.

If the library is carelessly reopened and hazards exist, the state could fine the Library. I imagine the cost of the fine would not come out of the pockets of trustees or library personnel but out of the budget that we taxpayers fund.

When the pandemic started, libraries all over the United States closed; many restricted access to e-books and downloadable audio books. While the efforts of the Guilderland library to shift to these services was quick and helpful, the experience of reading on a computer screen stinks compared to holding a real book.

But Guilderland softened the blow of losing paper books by tapping into several e-book services and offering access to streaming services that offered things people might actually want to watch.

When it became safe, the library resumed lending physical books and DVDs pretty quickly. We have friends in southern California who use the Los Angeles County library system. LA County libraries are great, but our friends had to wait longer than we did before they could borrow physical materials.

To say, as one trustee asserted, that “it’s not fair for taxpayers to be paying a full price for artificial ... virtual things” has got to be one of the least intelligent comments ever made about working during the pandemic.

Staff are developing and presenting many virtual programs. From my experience with such programs as a volunteer for two groups, I can testify that virtual programming takes as much or more work as in-person programming.

Regarding “a full price”: A typical Guilderland taxpayer pays substantially less in library taxes than he or she pays for cable and streaming services. T’at taxpayer gets online services and access to hundreds of thousands of books and films in Guilderland's collection and those of the 35 other libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System.

The idea of furloughing library staff is a real head-scratcher. The staff are still working well — even though caught in the vise of the pandemic and a sprawling construction project.

Some governments rely on income- or sales-tax revenues or grants from higher levels of government.  These funding sources are being stressed by the pandemic. But it appears about 97 percent of the Guilderland library budget comes from a property-tax levy. That provides a level of resilience that other government agencies may not have.

The latest library budget was enacted in May, 2020. At this time, the pandemic was still an issue for reopenings; many scientists and community leaders were warning of more illness over the winter. If we assume the board of trustees is exercising its legally mandated responsibilities to manage the budget, it seems the trustees should have already been managing expenses since then; there should be no budgetary reason for a furlough at this time.

At the end of the description of the meeting, Ms. Melissa Hale-Spencer, the reporter, wrote, “The trustees voted to set up an open meeting, with the library’s lawyer, to learn about furloughs.”

Attorneys are professionals and are typically paid for providing services. One trustee asked about the library services, “What am I paying for?”

If finances are a concern, why are the trustees paying for something that may or may not come to pass.  And why are they not consulting experts in state agencies that regulate public employee contracts, people who the entire community are already paying for through the state income tax?

John Rowen

Guilderland