With Restoration, Library Will Remain Open

For some, the Westport Public Library is a sanctuary — a break from the daily grind, a quiet place to sit among the stacks.

For others, it's a place to search for a job, learn how to "tie a tie" or get homework done over the weekend before that Monday morning due date looms.

For those and many other reasons, dozens of library supporters spoke to Westport's Represenative Town Meeting Wednesday asking for $45,000 restoration to it's 2010-2011 budget. It would equate to keeping the library open 16 Sundays this year.

Their pleas worked. 

After much deliberation, the RTM voted 33 to 1 to restore the library's funding. Judy Starr of District 1 opposed the motion.

Some RTM members said they were swayed by the outpouring of support the library had at the meeting, others said it was just the "right thing to do," and others said it was stories shared by those like John Suggs that warmed their hearts about what libraries mean to communities.

Suggs, of RTM District 5, said when he was about to interview for his first job in high school as a chef at Kentucky Fried Chicken, he realized he did not know how to tie a tie. With a father serving in the military overseas, Suggs said he went to his town library for help. The male librarian taught him the task and wished him luck. Suggs said he got that job, perhaps all thanks to the library.

Many spoke to the library's service to the town helping Westport's jobless, enhancing children's education and serving as a refuge for those cold from the March 13-14 storm that left them without heat and electricity for days.

Library users described the facility's benefits to a preschooler learning how to read to a bedridden man in his 90s who gets library books delivered to him at home — a service that not only makes his day but gives him something to look forward to each week.

After RTM moderator Hadley Rose tallied the vote and announced the restoration, the audience burst into applause and some rose to a standing ovation.

Many audience members went to congratulate Library Director Maxine Bleiweis.

"Oh my God; Oh my God," Bleiweis said as she thanked and hugged each greeter expressing their congratulations. "Hugs all around," she added.

Library Board of Trustees president Martha Aasen also went around the Town Hall auditorium doling out hugs. 

"We spoke to the truth," she said. "It may be the eighth busiest library in all of New England but it's the best anywhere. ... It was just a wonderful, wonderful evening."

While the library earned its requested restoration, not every town department was as lucky.

Some RTM members urged for restoration to the town's Fire and Parks and Recreation departments, but their motions did not win the necessary 70 percent majority vote to pass. 

The RTM did restore $64,000 in funding to the Public Works department, which will retain an engineer who also serves as a grant writer.

It also restored $46,500 to the Railroad Parking Fund, which does not affect the town tax rate since operating railroad parking is done through user fees.

Since Monday, the RTM has restored $197,500 to the town's budget for 2010-2011.

The body will continue to deliberate the municipal budget next Monday, where it will reconsider restoring funding to the Assessor's Office and the Conservation Department.