Pulse of the Peninsula: Library board not on Level ground

Karen Rubin

Those who are justifiably concerned about the fate of Levels turned out in force at the Great Neck Library Board’s June 17 meeting.

They fear that the board will take advantage of the closing of the Main building during the renovation to excess staff members who bring their extraordinary talent and compassion to a program which so many have said has changed their lives for the better.

And they are particularly concerned that once whittled down, Levels – a program that is considered a model for teens around the country – will not be restored, either because laid-off staff would have gone on to different jobs, or that they won’t be rehired.

The reaction from the board was not at all reassuring.

Library President Marietta DiCamillo, while expressing appreciation for Levels, kept to the party line that Levels would be evaluated in the very same way that every other department is -a disquieting statement in itself because the rest of the staffers do not know the library’s plan, whether they will be laid off or reduced in hours and wages, or not, even as they are busy “weeding” and “whittling down the collections are preparing to shut down the building by November. 

It sounds like the same across-the-board slashing technique that the federal government used with sequester, rather than consider real needs.

“This is an evaluation process,” President DiCamillo coolly said. “All programs are being reviewed – all programs – I can’t stress this enough, in all our meetings, the departments in the library will be affected by closure of Main, and it won’t be forever, a short period of time until we renovate – if items that are changed….

 “None of us can sit here and promise that a department will be immune. We wouldn’t be telling you the truth,” she said.

But the Levels supporters countered that Levels is not like any other department or program at the Library – the slack of taking out books, or doing research, even seeing a lecture, can be taken up at branches and fulfilled by the remaining librarians, but Levels’ staff have unique skills.

“How can it be evaluated for same?” a parent asked. “For some of these kids, Levels is the only stability in their lives, these six staff members are the stability, they give parent/teacher-like guidance. By taking them away [even if they are] put back later, disrupts the stability of the entire program. These are young kids who are trying to just grow up, and it’s like taking away someone so important in their lives.”

Helen Moore, a Great Neck resident whose two children went through Levels, said, “Each of the members at Levels inspires all our children each in their own amazing way. It’s not as if it’s a program and you will keep some of these people and every child will get something – each person who works at Levels brings something unique – something all the children need. We as parents feel this can’t be treated as any other department because it is very unique, very special – what every library should do – engage, inspire and move our children along.”

Martin Marks pointed out “of the six people who are there, they each have different skill – difficult if not impossible to put on performances – cutting even one person is like cutting an entire department.”

DiCamillo came back, not exactly easing the anxiety, “Ethan Mann is the greatest advocate for a program – he has been very up front with the board – the relocation committee especially – this has been conversation  – we do understand.”

But they don’t get it. Everyone there was saying that Levels is more than “a program” but the people who bring it together. People are not widgets, just as the young people who populate Levels are not “widgets.”

They are expressing their concern if the people who provide the lifeblood of Levels are “excessed” Levels will never come back in its whole form.

“The board does support Levels, it will continue – there is a brief renovation of the building,” DiCamillo insisted again, but those in the audience seemed skeptical.

As for “only closed for a year” argument, one Levelite (who just gave a brilliant performance in Level’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace”) pointed out that she is only in high school for four years – one year out of the four  “to us, that feels like forever.” And she won’t be getting that year back.

Library Trustee Janet Nina Esagoff did not offer any comfort either, when she said, “Ideologically we appreciate what you are saying – but what you are describing is beyond the scope of library – every department – we take the spirit of what you are saying – sometimes is Solomon’s choice.” 

But as Naomi Reece, a resident whose two children have been involved in Levels – one who has “graduated” the other just starting, adding that she is also a lawyer, said, a parent may love both children the same amount, but the parent has to respond to different needs. 

Sally Kloons, who lives and teaches in Great Neck, and whose children are  involved in Levels picked up on Esagoff’s comment that “Levels goes beyond the scope” of what a library does. “That concerns me. Part of why moved to Great Neck is because its schools go beyond the scope of what you expect. Why Great Neck is a great place to live is maybe because the library also goes beyond the scope, too. I hope you aren’t thinking of turning this wonderful place into something you would just expect anywhere. We are proud to be in a place that has services beyond what you expect.”

I never ceased to be amazed at Levels’ productions – most recently, the fantastic production of “Arsenic and Old Lace.” 

Sure the high schools provide marvelous opportunities for theater, music and art (when so many schools are shutting down the arts), but most remarkable about Levels is that the productions are entirely student created – a student directs, a student produces, a student choreographs, students build the sets, make the costumes, do the make-up. The students collectively decide what productions they will mount. Altogether, the students are given an opportunity to do things, learn things, succeed at things, they can’t get anywhere else, where they prove they can handle tremendous responsibility. 

But Levels is so much more than the productions, which are basically the visible product. Levels is a place where the students can come and help each other, find mentors, and for so many of the thousands who have been through the program, it is transformative. And it happens here, not on some remote mountaintop.

Amy Schaufeld, a rising college sophomore, told me, “I wouldn’t be going to college if it weren’t for Levels.” – that’s because Levels gave Amy the experience and opportunity to create the portfolio she needed to get into NYU Film School, and Ethan Mann tutored Levelites (at no charge) for ACT and SAT. “He’s a brilliant man… he’s unlike anybody I know.”

Lisa Currie (she was Sampinoin the 1980s when she participated in Levels) has been in contact with Levels alums. “We talk about Levels all the time. Famous writers, producers, a director.” She quotes R.J. Cutler, executive producer of “Nashville,” saying, “If I hadn’t directed my first play at Levels” and cites 

Liz Sarnoff, writer/producer of “Lost,” now working on “Salem,” who credits Levels for her success.

It isn’t a coincidence that Levels just celebrated its 40th anniversary (with a picnic in Kings Point Park that saw 100 alumni come from around the country and even the world to participate), or that the Main Library building itself was built in the late 1960s (opened 1970), while Parkwood is proudly heralding its 50th anniversary with the staff T-shirts this season. That 1960s-’70s generation had such a sense of community, such a progressive sense of what it meant to be a community that they created these institutions which we perhaps take for granted. Sadly that generation is dying off now, one by one, and in their place are people who do not seem to have the same sense of “community.”

Those who came out in support of Levels last week realize that. They realize that Levels would never have been created today’s atmosphere and are justifiably terrified that if Levels is allowed to lapse, if the extraordinarily talented, creative, and nurturing staff are laid off, the program will not be restored to its full measure. 

The more cynical among us – and I am one – see the library closure as the excuse that those who have had a burr in their craw for more than a decade about Levels – making all sorts of false accusations and inaccurate statements (as evidenced by two letters that were on the agenda, statements that were spewed out into public, into the library’s record, but which DiCamillo would not allow refuted by one of the young people who turned out – she said it was to protect the letter writer from smears, but instead, she allowed the smears to be unanswered).

Rebecca Reioss, a  rising college senior who went through Levels (her younger brother is in Junior Levels now), said, “All of us are here today to impress on you as you make these decisions, that Levels may be beyond what you expect from cut-and-dry box library but that’s what makes this place special, and not just the library… All of us are counting on you.

“This is the place where I made so many connections, I learned what I wanted to do with the rest of my life because of the guidance and resources at Levels,” Rebecca said..

More persuasive, though, are the voices of those who went through Levels years and years ago – to truly see the impact.

Lisa Currie pointed me to the Facebook page for Levels alums where people have been posting:

Amy Bernstein wrote, “Back in 1973/’4 when I was a restless and rebellious teenager, I was invited as a student representative to sit on a committee to create a youth center in the basement of the library. Should we call it ‘Under the Bookshelves’ or ‘Levels’? What will we do? How will we staff it? What if we created a youth center and no one came? The function of the committee was an excellent example of what was to come…that is, everyone gave with their whole being, thought creatively, listened and as a young person, it may have been the first time I felt heard and valued for my contribution. There was no sense that I was merely a student participant, but rather a full member of the committee.

“Then came Levels…it was our safe haven. It was somewhere we could go and be ourselves and be supported, whether by other participants or the staff. It focused us away from some of the craziness and danger of the teen years and gave us a home and a cause. We could go and have a safe and friendly place to hang out and do school work. It gave us a place to explore creative outlets… It gave us a place to feel accepted. It gave us a place work out social skills and issues. It gave us a place off of the streets and out of the pizza joints. It gave us a sense of self. And it gave us the opportunity to make life-long friendships (as evidenced by the 40th reunion this past weekend).

“Of course none of us know what our course of life would have been without Levels, but I sense that mine may not have been as successful as Levels gave me the confidence and skills to go out and face my fears and face the challenges of life. 

“I am now a successful attorney, an adventurer, a continued lover of the arts including theater, dance and music (all fostered at Levels) and have a fabulous 22-year-old daughter. Oh how I wish I could have offered her a Levels experience! But as there was none in the community in which I raised her, I mimicked the best I could by sending her to sleep away camp but know if she had had the support of a Levels during the school year, her teen years would have been immeasurably enriched.

“Please keep Levels alive for all the children of the community who deserve such an experience! Great Neck is a community and needs to continue to support all facets of its community!”

Susan L. Blumberg, an original member of Levels, in a letter to DiCamillo, wrote that she, a GNN ‘77 grad, and her husband, a GNS ‘75 grad, came from Colorado for the 40th anniversary Levels reunion. 

“Unfortunately, actually visiting Levels was a major shock. The space is dilapidated, neglected and reeks of the lack of support by the library. The message sent to the teens who currently visit Levels is that they are not important to the Great Neck community.

“I assure you that based on experience, this is a grave mistake. These teens will grow up to be attorneys, psychologists, computer specialists, photographers and artists, as we did. I can see they are passionate, creative and tremendously supportive of each other, just as we were. I hope that the board can see that continuing the legacy of Levels is crucial to the sense of community and belonging these teens will feel to Great Neck.

“Along with my fellow Levels alumni, we request you reconsider the library’s commitment to Levels, and make plans for its future, both physical and social. The emotional space Levels offers was a major part of our childhood, but the physical space must be maintained. Please make this happen for the future of our children,” wrote Blumberg, signing off, Ph.D.

Brian Lauro wrote, “I know from my personal experience that Levels saved my life. Levels came along at a point in my life where I could have easily have ended up going the wrong way. Levels gave me a creative outlet where I could feel valuable. Without Levels I fear that I would have ended up in a ditch, or a drunken bum living in a box or worse yet in jail. Instead I earned an engineering degree, and an MBA and I am a productive member of society. 

“I hope Levels can continue to be funded so that it can do for other kids what it did for me. Unfortunately our society would rather spend money on jails so that there is a place to put people like me after we did wrong instead of a place like Levels so that we will never go wrong in the first place.”

Naomi Rose, who was one of the early Levelites, wrote, “At the 40th Anniversary picnic this past Saturday, I had a chance to meet many of the current generation of Levelites. I saw happy, well adjusted kids, each with an inner glow that I can only attribute to their participation in the greatest youth community ever.

“Levels must continue to exist. In fact, every community needs a Levels. It is an essential part of teen life, especially in an age when technology is taking over. Levels offers human contact, and teaches tolerance and acceptance. It offers a showcase for talent, and opportunities for growth. Levels is the best thing that can happen to a teen.”

Barry Stephen Solone, a professional choreographer, actor, voiceover/ recording artist and music producer, who has been living and working abroad for the last 16 years, wrote, “Without the opportunity to explore and develop my innate talents and interests within a safe and supportive environment (which Levels was and is), I am certain that I would have fallen between the cracks and into one of many traps which were posed and set for young persons such as myself during those years…. 

“It is also true that I spent many hours in the library upstairs, perusing literature and various materials on a wide of variety of subjects ranging from Art History to Quantum Physics….. Yes, this was also possible, in between my numerous suspensions from school and visits to disciplinarians and psychiatrists. It also feels uncomfortable to describe myself as having been a ‘troubled’ individual though, before I arrived at Levels, that certainly was the case.”

“Everyone at the reunion said, ‘I wish my children had Levels,’” Lisa Currie told the Board. “With age, we appreciate it that much more – and we want legacy of Levels to continue.” She asked how Levels alums can send money to support Levels but wanted assurances from the Board that the money will go toward enhancing the program (and not to carpet and paint which is already part of the renovation plan, but little else).

DiCamillo asserted, “We have a commitment for the program, and that commitment continues and we will do what is humanly possible and make sure is as successful – the board supports the Levels program “

Somehow, her assurances were unsatisfying. 

Great Neck likes to think of itself as “exceptional.” Sure we have superb schools, wonderful parks, but exceptional? Our library is no longer exceptional. The one program that Great Neck offers that is truly “exceptional” is Levels.

“The library is a place, but Levels is a world – you have to understand it in that context,” said Susan Jacobowitz, a Levels parent.

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