Brian YatesWhen the four remaining branch libraries
(Auburndale, Newton Corner, Nonantum, and Waban) were closed by Mayoral
budgetary fiat after the override failed and Aldermanic resolutions to keep
them open were rejected, I knew what the next step had to be because I’d
been through this painful process before. The Upper Falls, Lower Falls, and
Newton Highlands branches had been closed in a previous wave of budget cuts
in my first term on the Board of Aldermen two decades ago. I had worked
with activists in these villages to maintain independent libraries. (I even
persuaded former Mayor Concannon to serve the abandoned areas with a
bookmobile.)
A major obstacle to developing independent libraries was the lack of
permanent collections. The branch
collections had been distributed to the Main Library and the remaining
branches. New collections needed to be developed and shelves re-stocked if
readers were to be attracted. A lack of permanent collections was a major
factor in the failure of efforts to establish independent libraries to
replace closed branches.
To avoid a recurrence of this problem, I introduced Budget Amendment 1 to
the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget to ask that the books and other supplies remain
in place in the closed branch libraries. I also filed a budget resolution
asking for the establishment of a task force to establish neighborhood based
libraries. The Trustees and the Mayor readily agreed to leave the books in
place and to negotiate with interested neighborhood groups.
Thus far, two neighborhood based libraries have been established, one in
Auburndale and one in Waban. They use the former branch collections as the
core of their collections. I was delighted to be one of the first customers
of the Auburndale Community Library just as I was one of the last of the
Auburndale Branch Library. I hope that the residents of the villages with
closed branches and poor access to the Main Library will follow the examples
of Auburndale and Waban and the citizens of a hundred years ago and more who
established village reading rooms that became branch libraries. Maybe
someday public finances and technology will enable us to have branch
libraries again in Newton.
Here are links to information about these two branch libraries:
http://www.auburndalelibrary.org and http://www.wabanimprovement.org
This page last updated on Monday September 28, 2009
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