MASSENA -- The New York Library Association supports the Massena Public Library's efforts to switch their revenue funding from through Massena town tax collection to Massena School District tax collection.

Voting on the proposal is through absentee ballot with a June 16 deadline.

"We are grateful to see the out-pouring of support for the Massena Public Library by its community members and are optimistic about the election results. But we would be remiss if we did not declare publicly that we wholeheartedly disapprove of the Louisville Town Board’s actions," the NY Library Association said in an email. Libraries serve as a hub within their communities. They offer resources and services to all individuals – regardless of political affiliation. For a town, whose constituents could benefit from this vote, to actively advocate against its future success is disgraceful."

Town taxpayers currently fund the library through a portion of their annual tax payments to the Town of Massena. Under the proposal, the Massena Central School District would collect a library tax from all residents within their boundaries, which includes the Town of Massena and parts of the towns of Louisville, Norfolk and Brasher. Library officials say that this would have residents in Louisville, Norfolk and Brasher would pay their fair share for a library their residents use. Massena Public Library Director Elaine Dunne earlier this year said they are asking for the change to ensure stable funding. They are currently funded primarily by the Town of Massena, but they need more money than they are not getting in order to continue offering the current level of services and staying open for their current hours, Dunne said.

At a library referendum presentation earlier this year, Dunne said the annual tax rates would be about $82 on a $75,000 home in in Brasher, $75 on a $75,000 home in Louisville, $66 on a $75,000 home in Massena and $81 on a $75,000 home in Norfolk.

“When the decision to fund libraries is put directly into the hands of voters, those budget votes pass over 95% of the time in New York State. It is unconscionable for the Town Board of Louisville to actively interfere with the rights of its citizens to exercise their rights to vote,” Jeremy Johannesen, executive director of The New York Library Association, said in a prepared statement. “The New York Library Association stands with the Massena Public Library in their pursuit of adequate and sustainable funding, to be determined by its patrons.”

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