BY JOHN SNYDER
OF PASCACK PRESS
HILLSDALE, N.J.—The Hillsdale Public Library could soon have a new name if a generous gift is accepted with a renaming stipulation intact.
Not everyone is happy at the prospect or at the way officials are handling it.
The Library Board of Trustees is meeting behind closed doors Friday, Nov. 2 to take up contract talks around what sources say is a philanthropist’s offer of $1 million in exchange for terms that could see the library rebranded for him and his family, down to the front sign and letterhead.
Speaking at the public portion of the mayor and council meeting of Oct. 9 and at the library trustees’ meeting Oct. 15, Planning Board Chairman Michael D. Giancarlo, speaking as a private citizen, raised alarm about the prospect of the talks going on in secret.
“Public spaces and libraries are sacred institutions. The Hillsdale Free Public Library belongs to the Hillsdale taxpayers who have paid for its upkeep, staffing and renovations since its inception. It sets a bad precedent when officials can rename public spaces after donors, without the ‘light of day’ shining on the proceedings,” Giancarlo said.
He added, “I cannot think of another entire [Pascack Valley] public library that has been renamed for a person, especially for the amount purportedly donated. Decades ago the Vorrath family gave the original building and land to the town of Hillsdale. They did not ask for it to be named after them.”
He told the council, “Even the New York Public Library, that has a Rockefeller reading room and Vanderbilt lobby, is rightly named after their chief benefactors, the people of New York.”
Of the potential name change, made at the request of a philanthropist with strong Hillsdale ties—whom we have chosen not to name as the matter is under negotiation—Giancarlo said, “Perhaps this generous Hillsdale donor could be satisfied with a lobby, wing, or bust in his honor.”
Asked for comment, Mayor John Ruocco said “an individual approached the Mayor and Council several months ago with several ideas involving the donation of a substantial sum of money to the Hillsdale Library. The Council discussed these ideas in closed session and, after determining that some of the ideas were not feasible, advised the potential donor to present his remaining ideas to the Library’s Board of Trustees.”
Since then, Ruocco said, the trustees have been involved in confidential discussions with the potential benefactor about the terms of a potential donation.
“The terms of any agreement will be announced by the trustees if and when such agreement is reached,” he said.
He declined to elaborate, including in response to questions about process.
Giancarlo was Hillsdale council president and president of the Friends of the Library. He lives across the street from the library.
He said it is “not satisfactory” that the initial outreach to the council got to the library board for deliberation without council disclosure.
“I am hard pressed to see how that necessity escaped them or how they could be unencumbered by the necessary public disclosure,” he said.
Library officials are meeting for a special session Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at 509 Hillsdale Ave. for the purpose of contract negotiations, which means the subject will be taken up in closed, executive session. “Action may be taken,” the agenda notes.
Asked for comment, Library Director David Franz told Pascack Press Oct. 23, “There’s a donation offered to the library. That’s all I can say.”
Asked about the library’s fiscal footing, Franz added, “We’ve been working on what I would describe as a flat budget for the past 10 years. We’ve been able to manage that through some attrition, changes in staff, being careful with things.”
All libraries are funded differently. In New Jersey, minimum funding for joint and municipal libraries is at one third of a mill.
Hillsdale Library’s 2017 annual report shows available income of $740,440. Of that, $636,690 (86 percent) is from municipal support, with fines kicking in $15,591 (2 percent), WCL memberships of $28,450 (4 percent), Friends contributions of $13,650 (2 percent), and other donations and gifts. State aid is statistically zero.
“When the real estate market was booming, in the early 2000s to 2008, Hillsdale did grow very quickly. That of course did benefit the library. We reduced about $50,000 from our high, and we’ve been around that since then. We’re doing OK,” Franz said.
That annual report said the library remained a leader among area libraries in terms of total annual circulation, at just under 152,500.
“This high level of activity resulted in Hillsdale Library having the lowest cost per circulated item among all 75 libraries in the Bergen County Cooperative Library System from 2007 through 2013,” the report said.
In 2016 the library was ranked third lowest at $4.62 per circulation. The BCCLS average was given as $8.46.
Meanwhile, Hillsdale, like other libraries in the system, might have to start paying for local deliveries in the wake of troubles at the state-funded delivery system.
Pascack Press does not have a copy of a contract said to be taking shape at the heart of the purported offer.
An undated copy of what appeared to be a consultant’s report Pascack Press acquired said demands in the offer were not unethical but rather were unusually specific and “pushed the limits of tasteful philanthropy.”
“The ultimate decision to accept, modify, or reject this contribution rests with the library board,” the consultant reportedly said, and recommended the body seek legal advice.
A call to the consultant seeking comment was not returned by press time.
Giancarlo explained, “I cast doubt upon whether any elected body has the authority to change the name of a public institution without the input of the taxpayers who fund it. To date, the council has not even discussed this initiative in public. It is for this reason that I think the process needs to be made transparent and that public opinion should be solicited about any library renaming. It is not a small decision.”
The board consists of Barbara Braun, president (2018); Warren Harris, vice president (2021); vacancy, trustee (2022); Al Metz, trustee (2019); Joanne Miano (vice chair of the Planning Board), treasurer (2021); Kathleen Scordato, secretary (2020); Barbara Wertheim, trustee (2018); Ruocco; Mayor’s Alternate Marie Hanlon, Superintendent of Schools Robert Lombardy, Superintendent’s Alternate Allen Saslowsky, and Liaison to Council Abby Lundy.
From humble beginnings
The Hillsdale Library got its start in 1936 with help—in the form of cleaning, construction and cataloging—from its members, as well as fundraising events and myriad book donations.
Its first few homes were in stores and other buildings around downtown Hillsdale, including the sites now occupied by Hillsdale Paint and Wendy’s.
The library was turned over to the borough in 1937, debt-free and with a collection of 4,500 books and a membership of 780.
With both the book collection and Hillsdale population growing, a larger and more permanent home was needed.
In 1956, the borough council voted to provide the library trustees with funds to purchase the Hillsdale Avenue property of Harry Vorrath at Hillsdale Avenue and Yesler Way. The farmhouse was remodeled and the library moved in during the next year. An addition from 1970-1972 tripled the size of the Vorrath house and a third major construction and renovation project starting in 2003 brought the library up-to-date with the 21st century.
During the 2003 renovation, the roofline and shingles from the Vorrath farmhouse were still visible inside the attic space created in the 1972 expansion.
Arguably the heart of the community
According to the 2017 annual report, 2,815 Hillsdale cardholders used their card at least once in 2017. An additional 1,362 used their card at least once in the previous two years.
There were 6,878 registered Hillsdale cardholders, with 3,600 Hillsdale Library cards current.
The library engaged the community through continued creative use of the sign and Bookface Friday posts, hosted NJ Makers Day, sponsored the Seeing Hillsdale Photo Wall contest, and engaged teens through book displays, movie marathons, school book clubs and several late-night events.
Overall, 3,336 visitors participated in 222 activities sponsored by the Library, including film festivals, story times, book groups, yoga, author talks, and art classes, all funded primarily by the Friends of the Hillsdale Library.
The meeting room is utilized by scouts, senior clubs, the Kids for Earth, the Science Fiction Society of Northern New Jersey, and other community organizations. The Sundial Garden Club tends the patio planter throughout the year.