Jamesburg library woesa sign of larger problems

The Jamesburg Borough Council is considering closing its library.

The reasons, according to borough officials, are a collision between state library funding rules and a new state tax levy cap that limits what towns can spend.

As we’ll be reporting tomorrow, the council is considering placing a referendum on the November ballot that would ask voters whether the library should be closed, the idea being that eliminating the library and its mandated increases will give the borough more flexibility in crafting a budget.

I think Mayor Tony LaMantia and the Borough Council are fooling themselves. The problem is not the library or even the state cap levy law. The problem is the borough’s size and the fact that it is built out, that it tax base is stagnant and that costs in general are rising.

The way to fix it, borough officials constistently say, is for the state to ease of its requirements while also pumping more state money into Jamesburg. That approach, however, would do little more than allow Jamesburg to exist as a shell. Already, borough residents maybe facing life without a library. They have a barebones recreation program run by volunteers that offers a small fraction of the programs offered by their larger neighbors.

The issue, it would seem to me, is one of share services or — perish the thought — full municipal consolidation. While the mayor keeps making excuses to the contrary, Jamesburg residents would benefit from being part of a larger community, from the economies of scale it offers.

Consider this: According to state figures, Jamesburg spends about $22 a person on its library — compared with $78 for Monroe. Monroe and South Brunswick have massive recreation and senior programs; Jamesburg offers what it can.

Failing this, Jamesburg needs to explore either a shared library with Monroe or some kind of contractual arrangement under which the Monroe library would treat Jamesburg residents as if they lived in Monroe.

The library is an important resource — especially when you consider that Jamesburg kids attend Monroe Township High School. Closing the library will leave Jamesburg’s high school kids without the same resources available to their classmates.

There a lot of options out there. Closing the Jamesburg libary should be a last resort and even then I’m not sure it’s worth it.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet