Click here for more information about the County Tax Auction (http://www NULL.co NULL.ulster NULL.ny NULL.us/downloads/2012%20Ulster%20County%20Public%20Auction NULL.pdf)

“Libraries’ most powerful asset is the conversation they provide—between books and readers, between children and parents, between individuals and the collective world. Take them away and those voices turn inwards or vanish. Turns out that libraries have nothing at all to do with silence.” ~ Bella Bathurst

CASE FOR THE WOODSTOCK PUBLIC LIBRARY ANNEX

The Library is in great demand in Woodstock

Woodstock is a small town well served by its small-town library. From its beginning in 1913, the Woodstock library has fulfilled its mission to facilitate learning and self education for the community—and to encourage young children to develop an on-going interest in reading and learning. Today, The Woodstock Library is a connective center, an open door to knowledge, information, and enjoyment for all, serving young and old, free of charge with books, media, computers, meeting spaces and classes. It operates on a lean and capped budget funded by the taxpayers. Overcrowding of the library building is a testament to its popularity.

Woodstock residents are committed to their library and usage is increasing; from 2007-2010, program attendance has increased 73% at the library. Library visits increased 46%, circulation increased 5% and library holdings have decreased 8% as the building cannot fit books; something comes in—something has to go out. Book circulation is not growing very fast but library usage and program attendance is way up due to the increasing demands for meeting space and computer services.

The library space is inadequate to meet all the demands of the town.

In 2007, the library undertook a feasibility study. The study found the Library building inadequate to meet all the demands of the town.
The Library Building is deficient:
1. Lacks Space
– Meeting
– Books
– Computers
– Children Activities
2. Not designed for extensive laptop use, lack of electrical outlets
3. Heating plant obsolete
4. Framing not suitable for library loads
5. Not up to environmental standard so expensive and wasteful to heat and cool
6. Not Fully ADA Compliant

What’s happening with the old Laundromat?

Recently, the old Library Laundromat was seized by the county for back taxes. The property will be auctioned off in April 2012 with a starting bid of approximately $166,000, the amount of back taxes owed, as well as fees and penalties. The library must have $200,000 in reserve, to counter any unexpected bidder at the auction. 30% must be paid in cash, and the rest within 15 days.

Why should the Library buy the former Laundromat?

The acquisition of 6 Library Lane offers the opportunity to address pressing needs of the Woodstock Community.

The Library is located on a small parcel of land. There is a very limited area for the Library to expand. The front yard is unbuildable due to “Library Lake” and the Library’s commitment to maintaining green space for the community. The building has not had a renovation or addition since 1986—it has been the same size for 25 years. The lack of space has a direct effect on programs and services.

The Library has no dedicated community space and no meeting space. Nevertheless, the Library offers the community the reading space among the stacks, the children’s room upstairs and the director’s office for regular meetings. The director is regularly displaced from her office to accommodate regularly scheduled meetings. Recently a member of the community appropriately approached the Library on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce wondering if it were possible to schedule meetings mornings and during the day for organizations and businesses in town. The only times available are Wednesday evening after 8:30. The building is completely scheduled with regular meetings—seven days a week, morning to night—into the foreseeable future. Currently, there are 9 groups that use the Library after business hours. The acquisition of 6 Library Lane offers the opportunity to address this need and others.

How will the Library pay for the property?

The Friends of the Library have recently created a special committee, the “Resource Development Committee” whose charge is to raise funds for the acquisition of the property. Further fundraising by this committee, and grants, will pay for replacement of the current building with an accessible and energy efficient, environmentally conscious building for library and community use. The Development Committee will provide strategic planning, clear organization and structure for soliciting gifts. The Library Board of Trustees is committed and involved. The many individuals, board members, volunteers and donors who contribute to this project will be rewarded by the knowledge that they have helped a worthy institution to reach a new level of service.

What will the Library do with space?

6 Library Lane will provide a generous sized multi-purpose room of approximately 1000 sq ft. Constructing such a building to the LEED certified standard would provide hands-on learning for the builders and architects in the area and be an educational model for the Town. It will provide useful and comfortable flexible Community space and a Configurable Computer Lab for the people of Woodstock. The space can be configured for meetings of various sizes; and one that can also be used for larger meetings, forums and talks.

Programs such as the library Forums and the Summer Reading Program events could be held in an appropriate performance space, not in the back reading room, cramped in amongst the stacks of books. It will allow Woodstock to offer the community much needed services that the library cannot now provide. The Library will operate 6 Library Lane as The Woodstock Library Annex.

It’s Time for The Woodstock Library Annex

For 87 years, the Woodstock Library has occupied the building on Library Lane on the corner of Tinker Street in the town of Woodstock, New York. The Woodstock Library has provided service to the Woodstock community since 1913, when it was formed by the Woodstock Club, Inc. The Woodstock Club’s mission at the time was to plan a civic project that could unite everyone in Woodstock, villagers and outsiders alike.

One of the oldest houses in the village, the original portion of the Library building was likely constructed in 1795. In the 1920’s it belonged to Mr Lasher, the town’s undertaker, who in 1926 leased his rental property to the Woodstock Club for use as a library. In 1927, the land and building that the library occupies was deeded to the Woodstock Club Inc. In 1934, the Woodstock Club Inc. deeded the property to the Woodstock Library for $1.00. The residents of Woodstock voted to create a special district for the library in 1989. “The Friends of the Library,” now a 501 (c)(3), held the first Library Fair in 1931. People came from far and wide to attend back then, attracted to the home of so many famous artists and writers. Today, the Library Fair, held annually in July, attracts 3000-4000 people to Woodstock, a town still known for art, music, culture, and its library.

The Library and Woodstock have been energizing each other for almost 100 years!

Let’s show once again how a civic project can unite the energies and talents of a large number of people around moving the Woodstock Library forward to do more for this community. Here is an opportunity to practice united concern, effective collaboration, and a shared goal for the strengthening and renewal of our own town and community through an annex to our library.

Funding The Woodstock Library Annex

Two Phases
The first phase is to acquire the property at 6 Library Lane from Ulster County. The second phase is to plan, construct and equip the Library Annex.

Phase 1. Acquisition
The property will be auctioned off in April 2012 with a starting bid of approximately $166,000, the amount of back taxes owed, as well as fees and penalties. The library must have $200,000 in reserve, to counter any unexpected bidder
at the auction. 30% must be paid in cash, and the rest within 15 days.

Phase 2. Construction and Equipping
The Library plans to construct a building of about 1,000 square feet on the property. It plans to construct this building
to s LEED certified standard as a demonstration project for the community, using the planning and construction as a training experience for local designers and builders and an educational model for the Town. The building will be equipped with advanced technology and communication to support the demand for this from the community.

The preliminary estimated cost for this work is about $400,000, $300,000 for the building and $100,000 to equip it. The Library will apply for construction and energy efficiency grants that will supplement the cost.

If, for any reason, the Library is unable to acquire the property, all funds raised for the purpose will be returned and all pledges for the project will be canceled.