After a multi-month struggle, the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Community Library will stay in its space within the Ravena Village Building until the end of the year, still several months before library officials deem ideal for a move. This June, library officials were served a notice to vacate from the Village Board of Trustees. The library has been in its space for 15 years, but it failed to renegotiate the lease in February. The village intends to turn the space into a community center for residents. Library Director Judy Felsten said the library has outgrown the space and for more than a year has been seeking a new location. Library officials made the village aware of their plans, but were not at the stage to move because of budget issues and the need to secure a space. “(There were) some changes in board membership through this process and what happened was we needed to begin negotiations for a new lease. Unfortunately, the library board neglected to begin those,” she said. Felsten said the village wished for the library to stay in its current location until May of 2013, the end of its fiscal year. Library trustees then met with village officials and walked away thinking the lease would be renewed until May. They then received the notice to vacate by thend of October. Since then, the village has agreed to let the library stay until the new year. The village has purchased equipment from a gym that closed earlier in the year for about $37,000. The plan now is to turn the space into a community fitness center, according to Mayor John Bruno. “We are not throwing them (the library) out,” he said.
Antonio Booth, vice president of the RCS Community Library, said it would cost too much money to move to a temporary site. Also, half of the library’s collection would need to be placed in storage and service would be interrupted. Although everything is in place to set up the new fitness center, the village Board of Trustees decided to allow the library to stay in the space until the end of the year. They did ask that the program room be cleared out, which could cause problems for the library. “I understand they made commitments thinking that we were leaving, but from my point of view we never discussed leaving earlier than next spring,” said Felsten. The library will now need to find another location to hold programs or pay for storage of some materials. They are expected to move to their new location at the former Knights of Columbus building at 95 Main Street in January. The building is being renovated and the owner is leasing the property with an eventual option to buy. The library is still seeking donations to finance the move. Felsten said they have enough money to move and operate the library in the new space, but are seeking to raise capital to purchase new furniture and expand the collection. Library officials had sought out other options like expanding the current site or building a new facility, but neither were fiscally or logistically viable. The new space at 95 Main Street will nearly triple the size of the facility. “I’m relieved. I can’t really say anything beyond that,” said Felsten. “Also, I think a fitness center is a good idea, but I’m not happy with the way the village went about it. Our fundraising campaign has been stalled by this.” It is not known when the community fitness center will be fully operational.
Bruno said he is unsure if there will be a fee to use the facility or what the operational structure will be like. It is intended to eventually be self sustaining. “The village is not looking to make a lot of money, just enough to cover expenses,” he said.