‘It’s a blank check.’ Halfmoon Twp. votes to withdraw from Schlow Library over contract issues
In a 3-2 vote, the Halfmoon Township board of supervisors withdrew from the Schlow Centre Region Library program during a special meeting Monday night.
The move is effective Jan. 1, 2024, giving the library and the Centre Region Council of Governments a one year notice, as is required by the Articles of Agreement the township was engaged in.
The ordinance — which passed with opposition from Supervisors Patti Hartle and Ron Servello — reads, in part, that the supervisors “have determined it to be in the best interests of the residents of Halfmoon Township to withdraw Halfmoon Township from the Schlow Centre Region Library program ... effective January 1, 2024.”
Many of the supervisors had the same view, which Supervisor Chuck Beck put simply: “We’re not talking about defunding the library. We’re talking about not liking the contract that we’re in.”
David Piper, chair of the board, said the current contract between the township and the library makes it difficult for the supervisors to withdraw from the contract.
“It’s up to the officials to decide how much money and how long the contract lasts, not some arbitrary ordinance. Nobody, none of you out here, would sign this contract with your car repair guy, your gas sales person, because you’re held hostage by that contract,” Piper said to the scores of people who attended the meeting in person and virtually.
All municipalities in the Centre Region Council of Governments, of which Halfmoon is a member, contribute funds to Schlow Centre Region Library. That amount is determined based on the percentage of physical items — not the use of electronic resources, like eBooks or eAudiobooks — that the residents of each municipality borrowed in the previous 12 months, according to information provided by Schlow. Halfmoon Township paid $55,480 for operating and capital expenses combined in 2022, according to the approved budget.
By giving the notice now, Piper said the board will have a year to further discuss and get more information. It will also give the township leverage, he said.
“We don’t have to leave at the end of the year. We can talk about it, we can get some answers and we’re either going to stick with it or we’re not,” Piper said.
Servello agreed, adding he would never support not funding the library, as literacy is a “fundamental right” and something he strongly values. But to him, the contract doesn’t give the township “control of the purse strings.” Supervisor Rose Ann Hoover compared the contract to a blank check.
“It’s a blank check. I don’t believe anybody in this township would want us to have a blank check yearly that our hands were tied,” Hoover said.
Although the people who spoke during the meeting were opposed to withdrawing from the library — and of 35 written comments, only three were in support of withdrawing — Hoover said there’s a “silent majority” that is in support of leaving the program.
Hartle said she doesn’t have the same concerns about the contract. In the fall, the board sat down and reviewed Schlow’s budget and provided input on each line item, along with the other COG municipalities. If they leave the program, they won’t have the same input and oversight of the budget, she said. Having six different municipalities trying to negotiate their own contract doesn’t work, she said, which is why COG is there.
“It does not work. It provides more overhead and more time and commitment to the individual municipalities. The recipient of it does not know what they’re getting, you can’t plan,” Hartle said. “And if there was major issues with this contract, believe me, the other municipalities would have spoken up long ago. They’ve been in a lot longer than we have and it has functioned well. So I don’t know why all of a sudden it is an issue because I do not see it as such.”
‘Invaluable service’
More than 20 people spoke in support of the library and many asked the supervisors to delay the vote, gather more input from the residents and to have more transparency.
Several parents spoke about how the library has helped their family, including Justin Silverman.
“Last year my son read at least 1,000 books from the library. He’s under 4, so in reality we read them to him. He’s trying to learn how to read but largely based on books from the library; there is no way that we could pay for that many books on our own,” Silverman said. “We have a 9-month-old daughter who is just starting to enjoy some of the books that we’re checking out from the library. It’s kind of an invaluable service to us.”
The Grab-and-Go Lockers, which offer residents a way to get books and materials on a weekly basis at Way Fruit Farm, rather than driving to and from the library, have been a “godsend” for Jen Bowersox and her three daughters.
“I would be really disappointed if that went away,” she said.
Because the board has not recently discussed withdrawing from the library program, some residents questioned how the ordinance was drafted and why there wasn’t any more notice given ahead of time. Dave Carbonell asked why they board didn’t gather more input from the community.
“When I read that ordinance, it said it’s in the best interest of the residents of Halfmoon Township — who says? We never had a chance to provide any input on that. So I, too, say vote no tonight, again, realizing ... that would commit us to 2024 but we need to do this with input from the residents of the township,” Carbonell said. “This just screams of secrecy and it is just a terrible, terrible way to go about business and governance.”
Hartle said she knew the ordinance would be advertised but did not know what it said until she saw it in the paper. Servello said the solicitor wrote the ordinance and how it was written in the public notice surprised him, as he thought they would be discussing leaving the contract, not the program.
Lisa Rives Collens, director of Schlow, declined to comment after the meeting. COG Chair Richard Francke said while the COG will always respect the individual decisions of its member municipalities, Halfmoon’s decision is “regrettable,” as the impact will go beyond Halfmoon.
“Libraries play an essential role in local communities by providing access to information and resources, supporting literacy and education, promoting lifelong learning, and serving as a community gathering space. This is especially true for our most vulnerable community members...,” Francke wrote in an email. “Despite this, libraries systematically struggle to garner the necessary funding from state and federal sources and it thus falls on the communities to make them the priority they are for our residents.”
“The Schlow staff did an admirable job of providing information to inform the decision leading up to last night’s meeting; I would anticipate them continuing that role as the decision moves forward. Ultimately, it is the residents of Halfmoon Township, through their elected representatives, who will decide if last night’s decision stands or is modified. I am comfortable saying the rest of the Centre Region hopes for the latter,” Francke said.
This is the latest move by the board to draw concern in a year that has been filled with controversies in Halfmoon Township, including several transparency concerns, staff turnover, and the board declining to recognize National Hispanic Heritage month.
