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Wallkill Valley Times , Wednesday , May 17 , 2017
Walden Library forced to make cuts
By RACHEL COLEMAN
The recent announcement that the Josephine-Louise Public Library in Walden will be slashing employee hours — as well as their book budget — was disappointing to many local book-lovers worried about a loss of services .
However , according to Library Director Ginny Neidermier , there is no cause for alarm .
“ We ’ re hoping the community will not really feel that impact ,” said Neidermier .
Charlie Frank , president of the library ’ s board of trustees , said the budget passed by the library will cut 400 part-time staffing hours and decrease their book purchasing budget by $ 7,000 .
Neidermier explained on Friday that the cuts will not include any actual layoffs , but the hours for their five part-time staff members will be “ cut back considerably .”
The library is open 52 hours per week and has just three full-time employees , including Neidermier . The rest of the work is accomplished by a small army of volunteers including a number of high school students , two college students and four library pages .
The library will not be cutting any programming at this time .
The cuts to the book purchasing budget mean that patrons will likely need to utilize interlibrary loan to borrow the latest books . This means that readers will still be able to obtain the books they ’ re looking for , but it will take a little longer as they compete for the limited number of books available system-wide .
Neidermier said the library ’ s operating budget has not changed in the last seven years — up or down — and this is the first year they have had to cut into the operating budget since she came on board .
“ We ’ ve been lucky for a very long time ,” said Neidermier .
The Josephine-Louise Public Library — often referred
Damien DeRubeis reading to the library ’ s Tail Waggin ’ Tutor , Sadie , one of the many programs at the library .
to as the Walden Library — provides services to anyone with an RCLS library card , however only village residents can vote on the library budget . The Town of Montgomery also contracts for library services for those residents that have Walden addresses , but live outside the village limits .
This year , the library was hit with significant increases in insurance and other costs , including an 11 percent increase in health care costs . “ It was just too much for us ,” said Neidermier . The library usually passes a budget every other year .
This means that during a budget year they need to “ play catch-up ” with the increase in various costs from the year before , as well as the current year .
With no illusions that the costs will be going down , Neidermier said the library expects to go out for a budget vote in March of 2018 .
While they would like to restore the part-time hours and funding for books next year , that may not be possible .
Neidermier said one way to bring it back was to shift funding and reduce their programs and services , but acknowledged that might not be a palatable solution .
The new library budget takes effect on June 1 , 2017 .
Brown gets 5-15 years
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Brown admitted that Speights was unarmed when he was stabbed , and that he did not stab Mr . Speights in selfdefense . The knife which was used in the stabbing was recovered by members of the Silver Lake Fire Company , where Speights served as a volunteer firefighter .
The incident became the impetus for the Orange County Legislature ’ s unanimous passage in February 2016 of Orange County ’ s Social Host Law , which County Executive Steve Neuhaus signed into law and which became effective on March 17 , 2016 . Hoovler originally proposed the Social Host Law , which makes it a criminal offense for adults to permit underage drinking on premises that are under their control .
Hoovler thanked the New York State Police and the Town of Crawford Police Department for their efforts in the investigation and prosecution of the case . District Attorney Hoovler also thanked the Silver Lakes Fire Company for their assistance in finding the weapon used in the crime , as well as in encouraging residents with information concerning the crime to come forward .
“ Justin Speights was an exceptional young man , and his slaying was a senseless act of violence ,” said District Attorney Hoovler . “ The circumstances which gave rise to his death were no doubt exacerbated by the underage drinking which occurred at this party . Senseless violence and alcohol frequently go together . I commend the New York State Police and the Town of Crawford Police Department for their persistence and the professionalism they demonstrated in this investigation . I am particularly thankful for the actions of the Silver Lakes Fire Company not in only in recovering the key item of physical evidence in this case , but also for all the assistance they provided to the police and my office by urging members of the community to come forward with information concerning this crime . Their spirit of volunteerism , which was shared by Justin Speights , enriches all the community as they continue to cope with their loss .”