Huge Turnout Opposes Library Closings
Eric Ortner
North Buffalo Rocket / West Side TimesFebruary 2000: It was standing room only for West Side residents as they had the opportunity to express their opinions about the second of two proposed library closings at the Crane Branch Library on Wednesday, February 2nd. Between 125 and 150 people packed the meeting room to express their exasperation with the proposal.
Diane Chrisman, the Director of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and Michael Mahaney, the libraries' Community Relations Director were listening and recording the concerns of Crane Branch users. They reiterated that the proposal made by the consultants Aaron Cohen and Associates, was still only a proposal and not set in stone.
Attendees at Wednesday evenings meeting were blessed with the presence of a large number of elected officials. Sam Hoyt, Charles Swanick, Juith Fisher, Paul Buchannon and Dominic Bonifacio were all on hand at the meeting. The concerns of the Crane Branch Patrons were for the most part similar to those of the Grant Street closings. However, what worried this group of citizens the most was how far they would have to walk to a new library. Jesse Schnell commented, "I think the passion (displayed here) is not about closing libraries, it is about the strong vital community, and a safe place for children." She said, "Parking is not an issue for this meeting. We are clearly voting with our feet when we say that parking is not an issue."
An increase in parking spaces is one of the main reasons that Aaron Cohen Associates proposed the consolidation of the Crane and Northwest branches. The public concern from the Crane Meeting made it clear that this is not a good reason to close the libraries. To drive home this point, a show of hands was made to determine how many people walked to the library. Almost every hand in the meeting room went up.
Another concern that was expressed by the speakers was that Crane Branch is a well used library. Michael Cohen later confirmed this by saying, "Crane Branch is the busiest library ( in the City of Buffalo, next to the Central branch)." The circulation of Crane branch was 136,684 in 1999. The Northwest Branch's circulation was a little less than half that with a 1999 circulation of 45,044.
Aaron Cohen Associates plan also pointed out the importance of handicapped accessibility and the lack of it at the Crane Branch Library. A case in point was that the room which housed this meeting was on the second floor with no elevator.
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt said, "I'll pledge tonight to spearhead an effort to get an elevator in here." He continued, "We are so fortunate to have a library board that is willing to listen to the people. Let's work with them."
Jeremy Toth commented that, "The issue that I have with this particular report is that it responds to a much larger problem with suburban sprawl. There are more people moving to the suburbs and demanding the same services that they once had in the inner city." One of the root problems that has lead to the proposal to consolidate 22 libraries in Erie County stems from the system that governs the libraries.
Michael Mahaney explained, "What happened in Erie County was there were once villages and townships in Erie County that received charters from NYS to operate libraries. The (Education) law in 1953 that created the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library did not change those charters. So when the system was set up all the other libraries were not abolished, they continued to exist. Then in order for us to coexist, we needed to enter a contractual relationship... It was really a financial shift between the municipalities and Erie County."
Sam Hoyt commented on the State Legislation by saying, "I pledge tonight, that if it is an issue of state law, I'll look into it." He later confided, "I genuinely believe that much of the reforms and improvements to our library system that have been proposed by the board can be accomplished without closing libraries. I was amused when Michael Mahaney was listing all of the different reasons why we possibly need to go forward with this plan. The fact that Buffalo has more libraries per capita than any other city (in the United States). There was applause when they said that. This is one of the great things about this city. We ought to be marketing that. I am ready and willing to support any legislation that will help them accomplish the reforms without closing libraries. I think that any elected official that endorses a plan that
makes libraries less accessible is making a terrible, terrible mistake."According to Mr. Mahaney The library's Board of Trustees are grateful to Hoyt for the offer to help ammend the governance structure, and vows that if it is necessary, they will work with the State Assembly to amend the Regulations. However, Mr. Mahaney made it clear, "The way we are looking at this is that we don't believe the law is the problem, we believe we can resolve these things throughout the annual contract."
Chuck Swanick was the last speaker. He said, "I want to conclude, quite frankly I've never been to your library before.We want to build libraries that we are proud of, that bring the same quality to everybody throughout the region.Location is an issue. The legislature has made no decision on the issue at all. I want to thank you for taking the time to come out."
It seemed to many people that his mind was set on building new structures rather than rehabilitating the existing ones. This was the exact opposite of what the people at both the Crane and Northwest libraries desired. However, after speaking with Mr. Mahaney it appears that the Board of Trustees is listening. He said we are trying to be completely in the open, and have the public involved in the process, because if we don't people are going to find out one way or the other.
