BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

MASSENA -- The Massena Public Library director says switching to funding through the school district won't be life or death for the library, but will mean they'll be able to plan and won't have to cut staff and hours.

Library Director Elaine Dunne on Thursday night explained their financial situation to about a dozen people at a community forum at the library. She said their funding has remained flat since 2009. Currently funded by the Town Council as part of the annual town budget, their budget was $600,000 that year and is $603,000 for 2019.

Adjusted for inflation, their funding has actually decreased. A United States inflation calculator shows that $600,000 in 2009 would be just under $720,000, adjusted for inflation in 2019. Their funding from the town for 2020 increased to $683,750, the director said. They also receive grants from the state for specific projects like building repairs and technology upgrades.

"Without stable funding, the library will definitely be unable to establish any type of long range planning," Dunne told the audience. She also said not going to the school district funding would eventually result in reduced hours, staff cuts, and increasing the price of printing, laminating, copying and faxing.

She said the funding through the school district will help them because once the school district voters approve their funding level, it won't go down. If the library wants more annual funding, the voters will have to approve it.

She said they will initially seek $700,000 in annual funding. The residents in the school district will pay that through taxes that they pay to the district, which in turn gives it to the library. The voters would approve the initial funding as an individual ballot item, and will vote for library board trustees at the same time.

Dunne said the Town Council has pledged to not raise town taxes in response to no longer having to fund the library.

Massena residents will still owe taxes for the library, $89 on a $100,000 property, but that's $65 lower than the tax impact from the library being funded through the town taxes.

The savings comes from Massena school district residents in Brasher, Louisville and Norfolk now having to pay library taxes.

Based on a $100,000 property, the tax bill will be $102 in Louisville, $111 in Brasher and $109 in Norfolk, as the proposal is currently planned.

"People who have been using the library for years from the outside communities will be asked to pay their fair share," she said.

She said they can't predict if of when they would ask for funding increases, or for how much.

"Our board has been very conservative, as far as fiscal policies. We're all Massena taxpayers, so we're all very aware how much this impacts the taxpayer. They've always operated, I'd say within reason and good stewardship," Dunne said. "We're all taxpayers here. We're all struggling one way or the other ... we're just trying to maintain what we already have."

Dunne said they are trying to come to an arrangement that would not charge Norfolk residents a tax because they are currently paying to fund the Hepburn Library of Norfolk.

She said the library has recently been expanding into a place where people are "learning by doing instead of just passively reading."

"Libraries have evolved ... we're places of learning, but learning by doing. It's almost a community meeting place. the library can be the heart of the community," she said.

They now run a sewing lab in their basement where people can come learn to sew for free.

"I wrote a grant for the sewing lab, we have machines ... everything possible to learn how to sew," she said.

And they offer card games for all ages, and role-playing game groups such as Dungeons and Dragons. They also offer coding classes and a Lego Club for kids.

Looking forward, they want to add a community kitchen in their downstairs area so people can learn to cook.

Dunne said she's talked to local food banks and they "like the idea of partnering with us so we can offer very simple classes ... to make your dollar stretch further."