“You can go to the library and find the book that changes your life.”
—Ellen Schwartz

It was rainy, slushy and cold, though warm for a New England winter. The rubber soles of Joe’s sneakers kept the chill away, but not completely. He strode up Hope Street as quickly as he could without getting out of breath.

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Ever since he lost his job, he’d found himself more and more lost. He’d never thought of himself as a guy who was defined by his work, but now that he was part of the unemployment system, he wasn’t so sure. It wasn’t the money, although that was part of it. It was the pride, or maybe the feeling of certainty. As long as he showed up for work, he knew that every two weeks he’d get a check. Now that certainty was gone, and instead, he was dependent on the whims of government funds and State employees.

Stomping his feet to kick off a bit of snow, Joe shook his head. He’d done everything right—gone to school, gotten a college degree, stayed clean off drugs (mostly), and done his job. He’d been on time, hard working and diligent. He hadn’t gossiped or played office politics. He put in extra hours when he’d had to, and didn’t cheat on the expense accounts.

Now he was out in the cold, along with the other twenty percent of the company that had been downsized after the out-of-state corporate takeover.

It wasn’t fair, but bellyaching about fairness didn’t help. His father had broken that news to him after Joe had lost his brand-new fishing rod the first time he’d hooked a bluefish and hadn’t been paying attention.

The rain began to pick up, and Joe felt the water running down his cheek like icy tears from above.

Ahead he saw the building and smiled. The Rochambeau Library was like his second home, and when he saw its distinctive stainless steel sign, old-fashioned old brick section and the boxy new wing, his heart began to lighten.

He walked up the wheelchair ramp, and tugged the door open in time to let an Orthodox Jewish woman with a headscarf and her three children (two in a double stroller) in ahead of him. She smiled a thanks, but didn’t say a word. He shrugged, and waited until she’d folded the stroller and gone up the elevator before shaking himself like a dog to get most of the water off.

Up the stairs, he opened the next door and felt the warm comfort begin to fill his being.

Where to begin?

He glanced to his left and saw that the computers were full. He glanced to his right and saw that the new books shelves were fairly bare. Funding problems everywhere.

A drink of water at the fountain, and then a warm washing of his face in the bathroom were both refreshing.

At the reference desk, he signed up for a computer terminal.

With thirty minutes to kill, he glanced around. It was like picking from a Cambodian restaurant menu – so many delicious choices. Manga in the young adults section? A paperback? Maybe a novel or a mystery?

He didn’t really know what he felt like. He didn’t really have a plan.

Instead, he closed his eyes, spun around twice (discretely so that he wouldn’t be making an obvious scene), stuck his index finger out, peeked his eyes and walked forward until his finger pressed against the spine of a book.

He closed his hand around the volume and tugged it loose from the stack.

No way!

Joe found himself laughing.

He spotted an open chair, dropped into it, opened the cover and began reading.

THE END

BIO: Mark Binder writes and tell stories. His latest collection is “It Ate My Sister.” More at his website: www.markbinder.com

Copyright 2009 by Mark Binder, All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

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On Wednesday July 1^st from 3:00-5:30, we will be having a celebration at the Rochambeau Library. All of the branches throughout the city will be celebrating as well.

As a symbol of community spirit, each branch will be sending representatives to another branch to deliver a book and join in their celebration.

We would love to have you come and celebrate with us!

This Wednesday, July 1st  the day begins with a ribbon cutting at 9:30 when the library opens. At 3:00 there will be food, music, crafts and storytelling. There will also be great people and conversations. At 4:30 we will send off some of our Friends to deliver a book to the Wanskuk branch.

For years, The Friends of Rochambeau have worked hard to raise money to support our libraries and provide money for books, magazine subscriptions, museum memberships, musical performances and all kinds of activities that make our library an exciting part of our community.

Come celebrate with us!

 See you July 1st,

The Friends of Rochambeau

NEWS RELEASE

 Date: February 26, 2009

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Tonia Mason, 401-455-8090; 401-487-7104

 Mayor Opts Out of City/Library Agreement

Library Reviewing Options to Continue Services Moving Forward

PROVIDENCE, RI – In a disappointing development, the Providence Public Library (PPL) and the City administration have failed to achieve an agreement that outlines the process for ongoing funding and administering of City library services.  The agreement was negotiated by the Library and City administration last summer, and approved by the City Council in November, but never signed by the City.  Mayor Cicilline has now informed the Library that he wants a different process. 

Although the Library has been funding the cost of maintaining existing services this year as envisioned by the Council-approved agreement, and paying for a deficit projected to exceed $1 million out of the Library’s endowment, the Mayor’s failure to sign has resulted in the City withholding Master Lease money that was to flow to the Library to help pay the current fiscal year’s expenses.

In the absence of an agreement, many questions remain regarding the future relationship between the City and the Library.  The Providence Public Library now is reviewing its options and plans for administering Library service for the next Fiscal Year that begins in July.

“The focus for everyone involved needs to be on finding the best way to provide library service in the City,” said PPL Chairman William Simmons.  “We remain open to ongoing discussions on how to achieve that goal and have communicated to the Mayor our willingness to work with him and the City Council.”

The newly formed Providence Community Library has garnered some support from members of the public and City Council.  The Library has offered to work with the City to explore whether this may be a viable alternative for branch library service.

###

On January 15th, representatives of the Providence Public Library, the Providence City Council, and the fledgling Providence Community Library met at Rochambeau Library for a public forum to answer questions from the community about the fate of several of the city’s library branches. The Providence Public Library has recently submitted a proposal intended to sustain the city’s financially troubled library system by removing from PPL’s governance five of the city’s nine branch libraries. The PPL proposal would save, at reduced hours, the Central library located on Empire Street; Rochambeau; Mt. Pleasant; Knight Memorial; and South Providence. The city of Providence has the option to accept the proposal and take over the remaining branches or to assign the stewardship of the five branches to a third party. The funding currently provided by the city to PPL to maintain those branches would shift as well. The non-profit Providence Community Library, incorporated by the Library Reform Group explicitly to provide the city with a viable third-party option for governance of the endangered libraries, countered PPL’s plan with a proposal that would see PCL take the reins of each of the nine branches.

In attendance for PCL were principals Marcus Mitchell and Linda Kushner. In Kushner’s opening remarks, she outlined the PCL plan, which calls for a less bloated administrative structure and promises more effective fund-raising. Drawing on her experiences sitting on the Friends of Rochambeau Board of Directors, she exposed also those elements that she believes have eroded the relationship between PPL and the branches and library patrons throughout the city.

PPL had, in a printed proposal distributed to everyone attending the forum, suggested that the city and the respective communities could transform the shuttered branches into “community learning centers.” Representing the City Council, Ward Three Councilman Kevin Jackson cited the fiscal crises plaguing the city and the state and cast considerable doubt on whether the city would be financially able to maintain the branches jettisoned by PPL’s proposal. Rob Taylor, a member of the PPL Board of Trustees, gave many concerned patrons in attendance their first opportunity to evaluate PPL’s perspective first hand. In Mr. Taylor’s statement, he recounted PPL’s struggle to meet budget requirements, referring to failed “financial assumptions,” PPL’s increasing pension obligations, and that the Library has been operating beneath a significant deficit. With great ardor, a “Sustainability Committee” established by PPL’s Board of Trustees chose between a proposal that would have maintained all nine branches and closed the Central Library and the selected proposal, which removes five of the branches from their care.

During a vigorous question-and-answer session with the gathered patrons, librarians, library employees, and neighbors, a sense of anxiety prevailed. Many attendees swung between an acrimonious distrust of PPL’s intentions and overt uncertainty that PCL could immediately deliver the level of library services currently provided by the nine branches. PCL principal Marcus Mitchell reminded the forum, however, that “any branch closing is a reduction in services.” With five branches in danger of closing and a city unlikely or unable to take the reins of those locations and reopen them, it may be that a fledgling organization created to save those branches may be preferred, even if that organization struggles out of the gate, to a city dotted with locked libraries and reduced services and hours at the remaining branches and at the Central Library.

Post by Gary Mercure, Friends of Rochambeau Library Board member

ARCHIVE:

On January 15th the Friends hosted a panel discussion about the PPL’s current plans to close 5 of the Providence library branches and the Providence Community Library’s proposal to take over all of the branches.

A number of questions arose regarding the budgets of each organization. Attached are tables comparing Providence Community Library’s projected budget for next year with PPL’s actual branch budget for last year (2007‐08) and with PPL’s projected budget for operating Central plus four branches for next year (2009‐10). Click here to dowload the budgets and additional information.

Please go to www.providencecommunitylibrary.org to learn more about this grassroots organization working to keep all nine of the Providence Public Library branches open and serving our communities.