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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Plans discussed for Pine Bush Library’s facelift
By JASPREET GILL
[email protected]
What is a library’s most important
role in a community? For Pine Bush
residents, their library is a place where
the community can connect.
During last weeks Pine Bush Library
public meeting, over 20 members of the
community showed up to voice their
opinions on what the future of the library
should entail. The meeting was organized
by Sharon Tarolli, the library’s Board of
Trustees president, in an effort to create a
new five year plan for the library.
The meeting was held with Paul Mays
of Butler Rowland Mays Architects, LLP
who specializes in library design. He is
tasked with redesigning the Pine Bush
Library.
“As a library architect one of the great
joys I have is learning about the various
communities in which I work,” he said. “I
was interested in working with Pine Bush
because the community is very forward
thinking. Many libraries are stuck in
this idea of a pre-1950’s book collection
in a dusty shoebox and yet I saw this very
dynamic and active activity space in Pine
Bush.”
The Pine Bush Library received its
permanent charter and was first
incorporated in 1904 from the State of New
York. In the 1960’s, the library became a
member of the Ramapo Catskill Library
system. As a New York Online Virtual
Electronic Library, the Pine Bush library
is able to loan and borrow thousands
of magazines, newspapers, journals and
other informational sources with 47 other
libraries. In 2008, the Board of Trustees
Paul Mays of Butler Rowland Mays Architects, LLP discussed plans for the future of the Pine
Bush Library.
purchased the adjacent building which is
now known as the community center.
Mays and library staff asked the
community to provide input on what they
want to see change in their community
library. Mays handed out a questionnaire
for the attendees in which they were
asked what brings them to the library,
what the library’s most important role in
the community is and what they would
like to see exist in the library in the
future.
Sue Groth, a library user, recommended
that more genre-specific book clubs be
introduced.
“I would love to see surveys go around
asking people what specific genres they
like and if groups can be formed out of
them,” she said. “I would also like to see a
larger selection of new authors.”
Most people suggested the library and
community center needed more space for
books and programs, more parking and
more computers. The library currently
holds six computers. Many people said
they come to the library for accessibility
and programs. The library provides
programs like story times, homework
help, AARP Safety Driving Classes, health
and finance programs.
“Libraries have changed quite a bit
during the last decade alone,” said
Mays. “Your library probably has a very
different set of priorities than other
libraries. We’re holding this meeting so
we can get information from you so that
we can discuss what the priorities for the
community should be.”
Some things May has planned for
the library is to improve and protect
ext erior walkways, improve lighting in
the library, expand the presence of local
history, increase seating size and add
programs while still maintaining the
character of the neighborhood. He also
wants to connect both buildings together,
bringing the community center and
library together.
“We’re doing a two part master plan,”
Mays said. “The first part is to establish
the physical conditions of the library
and make the best physical infrastructure
possible. The second part is where we
look at what the library actually does in
terms of the community and how we can
improve that.”
One thing that hasn’t been answered is
how the library will fund the renovations.
Mays says that the money could come
from various sources.
“Typically, but not always, projects
like this might be implemented over a
series of phases rather than all at once,”
he says. This maximizes the potential
for supplementing project funding with
grants. It is very premature to say, but
funding for renovations typically come
from some sort of combination of private
fundraising, grant writing, member items
and, if the scale warrants, a referendum.
As noted, however, nothing is even
proposed yet at this point in the process.”
Mays set a tentative date for the next
meeting, called the “We Heard You”
(WHO) Meeting, for November 1, 7 p.m.
at the Pine Bush Library. Everyone who
attends the WHO Meeting will get a
chance to vote on proposed changes to the
library. For anyone who couldn’t attend
last week’s meeting, questionnaires are
still available at the Pine Bush Library
and they will be forwarded to Mays.
Advocate claims Pine Bush fails to help special education students
By JASPREET GILL
[email protected]
During last week’s Pine Bush Board of Education
meeting, Linda Montalbano, a special education advocate,
claimed that the Pine Bush school district isn’t providing
its special education students with the proper programs
and tools they need to succeed in school.
“I have sworn testimony that you are not following
New York State curriculum for special education classes,”
she said.
Montalbano was previously a Human Rights
Commissioner for the Town of Wallkill and a member
of the Associate of Local Human Rights Commissions
in New York. Now, she helps parents do due process
hearings in Florida and teaches them about the rights of
their children as students.
“Once upon a time Pine Bush had a special education
Orton-Gillingham program,” she said. “Today you have
nothing. Across the county I am helping children with
down syndrome and autism and many other disabilities
obtain high school diplomas. But here in Pine Bush, any
child in special education can never get a New York State
high school diploma because you deny them the rights to
the New York State curriculum. ”
Orton-Gillingham is the first program designed for
struggling readers. The program takes a multisensory
approach to reading, by teaching students connections
between sounds and letters. For students who struggle
with reading, a multisensory approach where more than
one sense is engaged has shown to be helpful. Orton-
Gillingham puts a strong emphasis on understanding the
“how” and “why” behind reading.
Montalbano also wants teachers to take advantage of
the technology that’s available to them to help assist their
students.
“We have the technology today to help students who
are learning disabled succeed in education,” she said.
“Right now in school you have these little computers
called Chromebooks. Textbooks today are all digital and
the Chromebook has the ability to read the books to the
student. This way the student can see and hear the words
at the same time. There are many videos on the Internet
that provide tools to help children learn. Pine Bush has
nothing.”
Montalbano is asking the Pine Bush school district to
start following the state curriculum for special education
classes and to bring back the Orton-Gillingham program.
Although board members acknowledged Montalbano’s
request, they say the accusations made by Montalbano
are false.
“We strongly disagree with the negative statements
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