March 13th, 2023 ‐ Trustee Melkorka Kjarval’s Agenda Reports
Red Hook Together: The Red Hook Together met over Zoom on Wed March 1st at noon. The topic was affordable housing and there was a presentation made by City of Kingston’s Director of Housing Initiatives and Bard Alum, Bartek Starodaj on various ways that Kingston is working to address housing issues in Kingston.
Red Hook Town Economic Development Committee: Bi-weekly meetings have been taking place at Village Hall on alternating Wednesdays at 8:40 am. The EDC is looking forward to having Melaine Rottkamp, President of Dutchess County Tourism do a presentation at the March 22nd meeting. Anyone interested in attending the presentation is welcome to join.
Village of Red Hook Communications Committee: The Communications committee meets every first Wednesday of the month at 1:30 pm in the Village Hall conference room. Our meeting this month was another work session where we discussed progress on Village communication such as the Village Newsletter, Recycling calendar & how to best communicate a proposed public event permit process.
Village of Red Hook Hardscrabble / Events Committee: The events committee meeting did not hold a meeting in February. The next meeting will be on March 20th, at 6pm at Village Hall. Please mark your calendars for Hardscrabble on September 23, 2023. As well as upcoming neighbors nights scheduled for Friday, May 19th, Friday, July 14th and Friday, September 22nd.
Village of Red Hook Human Relations Committee: The Human Relations Committee meets every first Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm in the Village Hall conference room. This month's meeting has been postponed till March 15th, 2023 at 7pm in the Village Hall conference room.
Red Hook Public Library Report: The RHPL board has public meetings on the third Thursday of each month, the next meeting is on Thursday March 16th, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the community room on the third floor.
As promised I have prepared an update on the search for Library Director. The former director resigned in early October 2022 , effective February 28th, giving the Library Board 5 months to hire a replacement.
On January 3, 2023 the board posted a job opening for “Library Director 1,” a position with specific requirements per Dutchess County Civil Service.
Following the interview process, the board reported on February 9th, 2023 that all three of the board’s top candidates withdrew their applications. The remaining applicant who is also a current member of staff was rejected and the Board voted to reopen the search.
At the same February 9th meeting the Library Board also voted to approach Tobias Tieger for the position of Interim Director for approximately $5,500 a month. Mr. Tieger, who lives in Philadelphia, began work on Feb. 27, commuting to the Library 4 days a week.
On Friday, March 10th , nearly a month after electing to reopen the search, the RHPL board posted a new job listing for “Library Manager”; the change in the civil service job title allows the board to interview candidates who have 2 years of college study, rather than a masters degree in library science as “Library Director 1” position requires.
As a point of clarification, Red Hook Public Library’s New York State legal status is that of a Municipal Library, because it is chartered to the Village of Red Hook. This is why the Village Board votes to approve Library board trustees, and I, as Library liaison, continue to submit monthly Library reports for the Village record.
In spite of the fact that the tax base of the Library is the Town of Red Hook and the Red Hook School District, Red Hook’s Public Library’s 1865 charter establishes its service area as the population of the Village of Red Hook . The United States 2020 centennial census sets the population of the Village at 1,975. By NY State Law[1] libraries that serve under 4,999 patrons may avoid the expense of a certified public librarian by hiring a library manager with only 2 years of college study.
To complicate matters, though the Town and School District are considered “unserved” areas on Dutchess County Library Service Area map[2] , the Library Board’s “Library Manager” job listing posted on March 10th , describes RHPL as ‘serving’ over 11,000 people. By the same NYS Law as referenced above, a public library with a service area of that population size (well over the 7,500 threshold), must hire a Library Director who has a Masters in Library and Information Science and is a certified public librarian.
As Village of Red Hook Library Liaison, I will continue to update the board and the public on further developments.
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New York Public and Association Libraries Minimum Standards: https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/compchart.htm
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Mid Hudson Library System Maps: https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/libs/service-area-maps/system-and-county-
maps/mid hudson.pdf