6/18/09
Months of pent-up frustration boiled over as the final decision was made this week to close the East Milton Library, which has operated as a branch on Edge Hill Road since the 1930s.
After hearing nearly an hour’s worth of public comments Monday night, the Board of Library Trustees voted 6-1 in favor of closing the branch and focusing its resources on the renovated main library.
According to the vote, the main library on Canton Avenue, which reopened in April after over a year of new construction and renovations, will have Sunday hours from 1 to 5 p.m. beginning Oct. 18 and ending May 9.
Trustee Janet Evans said the decision to close the long-standing branch was a tough one.
“It’s been a difficult decision personally for me because I live in the East Milton area. But as a trustee you have to make a choice,” she said, pointing to limited resources as the main factor in her decision.
Trustee Barbara Mason was the only one opposed to closing the East Milton branch. Two other trustees, Gene Boylan and Robert Varnerin, were not in attendance.
After the vote, many left the meeting hurling criticisms at the trustees, including one man yelling they were “criminals” who would not provide his name. Others also refused to identify themselves for this story.
However, Lynn Knodell, of Granite Place, said the trustees “decided a long time ago” what they were going to do and have not listened to residents who want the library to remain open.
“A lot of people feel cheated today. People are angry,” she said.
According to Knodell, the trustees said prior to Monday’s meeting they would answer questions before taking a vote but “did not answer a single question.”
Evans said the board tried to listen to and answer questions at a public hearing on the library budget held May 19.
“At some point, you have to make a decision,” she said. “We as the trustees have to determine the best use of taxpayers’ dollars to provide library services. Our primary concern is we’ve added 12,000 square feet of new library space [to the main library]. That’s a huge investment.”
But Knodell said that “no one told us we were sacrificing the [East Milton branch]” when she voted to support new main library construction back in 2005.
The $13.4 million project that has doubled the size of the original 1904 library, approved by a fall 2005 Special Town Meeting, depended largely on taxpayer dollars through a debt-exclusion override. The state provided a $3.7 million grant for the project and additional money was raised through donations.
Evans said “every precinct was in support of that decision.”
Residents have organized to oppose the East Milton branch being closed. In April at Annual Town Meeting, former State Rep. M. Joseph Manning stood in opposition, saying the building has been an asset to him and his neighbors. Residents said they had gathered 1,000 signatures on a petition to keep the branch open.
Ellen Gallagher, who has volunteered her time there, said there are others willing to do the same to keep the branch open for limited hours.
However, under the town’s contract with the library union, Evans said they can’t utilize volunteers to fill paid positions; they can only do so for jobs that are not unionized.
– Scott MacKeenAfter hearing nearly an hour’s worth of public comments Monday night, the Board of Library Trustees voted 6-1 in favor of closing the branch and focusing its resources on the renovated main library.
According to the vote, the main library on Canton Avenue, which reopened in April after over a year of new construction and renovations, will have Sunday hours from 1 to 5 p.m. beginning Oct. 18 and ending May 9.
Trustee Janet Evans said the decision to close the long-standing branch was a tough one.
“It’s been a difficult decision personally for me because I live in the East Milton area. But as a trustee you have to make a choice,” she said, pointing to limited resources as the main factor in her decision.
Trustee Barbara Mason was the only one opposed to closing the East Milton branch. Two other trustees, Gene Boylan and Robert Varnerin, were not in attendance.
After the vote, many left the meeting hurling criticisms at the trustees, including one man yelling they were “criminals” who would not provide his name. Others also refused to identify themselves for this story.
However, Lynn Knodell, of Granite Place, said the trustees “decided a long time ago” what they were going to do and have not listened to residents who want the library to remain open.
“A lot of people feel cheated today. People are angry,” she said.
According to Knodell, the trustees said prior to Monday’s meeting they would answer questions before taking a vote but “did not answer a single question.”
Evans said the board tried to listen to and answer questions at a public hearing on the library budget held May 19.
“At some point, you have to make a decision,” she said. “We as the trustees have to determine the best use of taxpayers’ dollars to provide library services. Our primary concern is we’ve added 12,000 square feet of new library space [to the main library]. That’s a huge investment.”
But Knodell said that “no one told us we were sacrificing the [East Milton branch]” when she voted to support new main library construction back in 2005.
The $13.4 million project that has doubled the size of the original 1904 library, approved by a fall 2005 Special Town Meeting, depended largely on taxpayer dollars through a debt-exclusion override. The state provided a $3.7 million grant for the project and additional money was raised through donations.
Evans said “every precinct was in support of that decision.”
Residents have organized to oppose the East Milton branch being closed. In April at Annual Town Meeting, former State Rep. M. Joseph Manning stood in opposition, saying the building has been an asset to him and his neighbors. Residents said they had gathered 1,000 signatures on a petition to keep the branch open.
Ellen Gallagher, who has volunteered her time there, said there are others willing to do the same to keep the branch open for limited hours.
However, under the town’s contract with the library union, Evans said they can’t utilize volunteers to fill paid positions; they can only do so for jobs that are not unionized.

– Scott MacKeen