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Kids & Family

Kinnelon Library Needs Funding Boost

Council approves three new library trustees, talks upcoming fundraiser events.

Mayor Robert Collins proudly approved appointments of three new trustees to the board at Thursday night's meeting.

The new trustees are Bernadette Morrisroe, Aileen Florio and Mesrob Odian.

"I want to give the trustees high marks for identifying, specifically, what the future needs of the borough are, from the library’s perspective," Collins said. "We’re attempting to identify members who have some business experience, that ultimately will contribute in a meaningful way, to see if there is a way to think outside the box. I think that we’ve identified three fine candidates to that end."

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Councilman James Freda agreed. 

"We saw the resumes and are very excited about these three appointments,” he said. 

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The Kinnelon Library has been going through tough financial times. But the borough council has tried to be proactive in keeping the public informed and asking for support to allow the library to maintain its role as a centerpiece of the community.

Library Director Barbara Owens attended the council meeting with current Board Trustees Glenn Sisco, former mayor of Kinnelon, and Christine Whittemore, treasurer. Owens told Patch that funding for the library is down for several reasons.

"Funds are down and costs keep going up, so the net result is that we are down," Owens said.

The library board has also recently had some vacancies.

"We’ve lost members of the board who have been with us for years," Owens said.

But Owens is encouraged by having three strong candidates coming in.

"This is the changing of the guard," she said. "I think it’s very exciting. Different people, different ideas."

Collins was also excited about the new trustees, as well as the current board.

"I’m very, very impressed with our current trustees. I can’t say enough about the fact that the library has and will continue to be one of the gemstones of the community, and we're just trying to make sure that it stays that way, if not gets any better.” 

Councilman James Freda praised the Friends of the Kinnelon Library, a nonprofit, volunteer organization dedicated to fundraising for the library. 

"The Friends of the Public Library raise funds to support the library in many ways," Freda said. "Examples include funding programs, funding computers and other technology upgrades, additional books, DVDs and audio books for circulation to the public." 

Freda said the fundraising efforts are imperative to the library's continued ability to offer the quality services and programs it does.

“[The library is] going through some tough budget cuts this year, so these fundraisers are very important for the library to be successful this year,” he said. "These extras make the library what it is in our town, so support all of these library functions."

He advertised two major fundraising events coming up:

  • The 35th Annual Book Fair — Aug. 24 through Aug. 27, at the Kiel Avenue firehouse, hosted by the Friends of the Library. Freda said this event is well organized and offers a great selection of books and movies. 
  • The 36th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival — Sept. 8, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. in the high school parking lot. This is a community event. 

A third event,  Freda said the library played a big role in the event last year with children’s activities, but does not have the funding this year to participate due to budget cuts. The council plans to sit down with the library to work on getting a donation, Freda said.

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