Three towns call for Roe Jan library support amid federal cuts

COPAKE — Three towns served by the Roeliff Jansen Community Library have signed a joint resolution calling for support for the library following funding withdrawal by the Trump administration of the Institute of Museum and Library Service.

The resolutions urge the U.S. Congress, including Sens. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY,and Reps. Michael Lawler, R-17, Patrick Ryan, D-18, and Josh Riley, D-19, to take immediate action to protect the funding guarantees of the Museum and Library Services Act. The act established the IMLS.

The IMLS is an independent agency that supports libraries in all 50 states. Last month, the staff of the agency, which is a major source of funding for libraries and museums, was placed on administrative leave following an executive order by President Trump, who ordered that the agency should be eliminated “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

The agency’s largest program distributes funding to library agencies in states.

Copake, Hillsdale and Ancram are the three towns that the library is chartered to serve.

The IMLS “... plays a critical role in supporting public libraries through its Grants to States program, which provides necessary funding to state library agencies, including the New York State Division of Library Development,”the resolution states.

The resolution also states that the loss of IMLS funding “could have a ripple effect, disrupting critical services, delaying state aid for libraries, and severely impacting the Mid-Hudson Library System.”

That system supports not only the Roe Jan Library, but dozens of libraries in the Hudson Valley, including the NorthEast-Millerton Library in Millerton, the Amenia Free Library in Amenia, the Millbrook Library in Millbrook and the Pine Plains Free Library in Pine Plains.

The system receives 78% of its operating revenues from the state.

In its resolution the three towns recognized “the indispensable role of the Roe Jan Library in fostering literacy, providing access to technology, supporting workforce development, and strengthening community engagement.”

At its April 9 meeting, Columbia County passed a resolution supporting all county libraries.

Tammy Gaskell, director of the Roeliff Jansen Library, said in a statement: “While the Roe Jan Library does not receive direct funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, we are very dependent upon IMLS funding indirectly. In New York State, IMLS funds support the State Library’s Division of Library Development (DLD), which is funded entirely by IMLS’s Grants to States program.

“The DLD works in partnership with library systems such as our Mid-Hudson Library System to develop services that meet regional and local needs. These services are especially critical to smaller, rural libraries such as ours, which would not otherwise be able to afford the technology support, e-resources, and more that we currently provide.”

“None of the 66 libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System could do a fraction of what we currently do without MHLS support,” Gaskell wrote.