As any elementary schooler knows, libraries are supposed to be quiet places – but an April meeting between Great Neck Library officials and the Nassau Library System board of trustees was anything but.
Nassau Library System board President Mike Turner raised his voice at library President Marietta DiCamillo, Trustee Josie Pizer and Trustee Janet Esagoff as they voiced concerns about the county system’s payment structure, according to both Pizer and county library system spokesperson Michael Conte.
The Great Neck library trustees attended the contentious meeting April 22, as the board continued its efforts to dispute rising costs charged by the county system for online databases and other library services.
“Mr. Turner interrupted me three times and he talked over me for most of the time and wouldn’t allow me to ask my question,” said Pizer “He really just yelled.”
“Numerous questions were asked by members of the [Great Neck] Library Board. In some cases, information was requested that had been provided in the past, which created an admittedly frustrated reaction by NLS representatives. The NLS board president became frustrated at what was being asked and alleged not only at this meeting, but repeatedly prior to this meeting,” wrote Conte in an e-mail. “Unfortunately, the president of the NLS Board raised his voice when he became frustrated. Immediately after the meeting he attempted to apologize to the president of the Great Neck Library Board and was rebuffed.”
The tensions at April’s meeting follow months of dispute between the board the Nassau Library System, a consortium of all the county’s public libraries which provides services to and is financially supported by member libraries.
The board temporarily delayed payment of county system fees last year, arguing that Great Neck was unfairly affected by the consortium’s policy of charging based on library budget rather than for services used. The library eventually paid the county system in full, after the consortium said it would cut off non-mandated services that include access to online databases.
Great Neck has the largest budget of any library in the consortium, and last year paid X more in fees than the second highest paying library.
The Nassau Library System rejects the claims, saying that their payment formula was approved by member libraries in 2011 and that the Great Neck library board has been unreasonable in their complaints.
Great Neck’s payments will rise from $33,000 in 2012 to $46,000 this year, according to DiCamillo.
“We asked why has it increased, and there hasn’t been any kind of financial accountability as to why the fee was raised,” Pizer said. “What’s the basis for this amount of money?”
DiCamillo said the board has reached out to the state librarian, state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) and state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck) to resolve the dispute, and is also considering the option of partnering with other Nassau libraries to purchase services independently of the Nassau Library System.
“It’s just not fair to us to have to pay based on our budget and the population,” DiCamillo said. “We’ve asked for financial accountability and that doesn’t appear to be forthcoming.”
According to Conte, the rise in fees is due to reductions in state aid, the request for member support was approved by 85 percent of member libraries in a 2011 vote and the formula used to calculate those fees has not changed since 2005. The Nassau Library System alleged that the library board has been “misleading” in its characterization of the dispute.
“Over the course of the past four months it has been necessary for NLS to expend significant time and effort responding to questions and requests for information from [the Great Neck Library,] which has adversely impacted NLS staff’s ability to meet some state deadlines and be as responsive as usual to our other member libraries. Issues about alternative proposals that were considered and decided against in 2011 inexplicably continue to be raised by Great Neck Library representatives,” wrote Conte. “
“The Great Neck Library Board has the right to express its dissatisfaction with the formula used for member library support. They also have the right to not pay their share of member library support and forego the non-mandated services NLS provides. But, NLS has the right to respond to non-payment by suspending the provision of any or all non-mandated services,” Conte added.
The Nassau Library System is conducting a review of its member library support formula that was commissioned in 2011 and is scheduled to be completed by the next proposal for member support. Great Neck Library trustees have submitted comments which the county system will consider, according to Conte.
But for now, no resolution is in immediate sight, and the words traded at April’s meeting were unhelpful, according to DiCamillo.
“It was pretty bad,” DiCamillo said. “You just don’t treat the public that way, no matter what you think or what your feelings are.”
