LOCH SHEDRAKE, NY — About 40 members of the community turned out to a meeting of the SUNY Sullivan Board of Trustees on July 19, to speak about the proposed plan for changes at the college library.  Before the visitors spoke, college President Jay Quaintance read from a statement about some of the changes that have occurred with college library resources over the past decade. 

In 2007, the library had 72,000 print volumes; that dipped to 53,000 by 2016, and the new plan calls for a further reduction to 26,000.  In 2007, there were 26 microfilm collections, now microfilm is no longer housed at the library. Also the library now has 143,000 ebooks.  In 2007, 2247 books were check out; this year that number dropped to 429.    

The statement said, “Library staffing will also transform to meet the needs of 21^st Century leaders.  Credential Librarians will focus on instruction, information literacy … rather than a ‘big box’ model, with staff waiting at a counter, library staff will actively work with students to support measureable learning outcomes.”

When Sandy Oxford, President of the Sullivan County Chapter of the NAACP, spoke she noted that many students are recruited from the five boroughs of New York City. Regarding the reduction of the print collection by 50% she said, “This will hurt many students of color, and students not having access to print resources."  She also questioned the college’s support of minority staff members, and said there was a history of minority staff, “leaving unexpectedly or being fired from crucial positions.”  She said the most recent case of this was the “dismissal of Evangelina Oates,” a librarian.

A woman who lives nearby the college asked, “Will there be a physical library with periodicals, how large is the library going to be?”

Quaintance responded, “There will be sensible access to books and periodicals and there will be public space for using those resources.”

Former Liberty School District teacher Kathie Aberman said, “To me the library should be the beating heart of an academic community. It should be where a member of to academic community could come to and find the things that they’re looking for, but also encounter serendipity; encounter some random volume that they never thought to look for…”

Angela Paige, a former librarian at the Liberty School Distrcit, who also worked in the college library, said the physical space of the library is important. She said, “Imagine going out to a restaurant and just being given the food.  You go for the ambiance, you go for the table, you go for the whole feeling and you stay for a while.  And here, when we’re trying to treasure our youngsters, to not give them that sort of space, to change who they are, to become the best of the best, that scares me a little bit.”  She added that circulation is not necessarily the best way to measure the success of a library.

A man who said he graduated from the college at the age of 69 said he could never have achieved that goal without the library and the librarian who helped him prepare for tests.

Dr. Theresa Hamlin, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said the board would consider the testimony of these members of the community before moving forward.