 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Buttenwieser Library |
|
 |
|
A Letter from Sol Adler, Executive Director of the 92nd Street Y
Update: September 4, 2009
On July 2, we announced that the Buttenwieser Library at the 92nd Street Y would close on July 31, and that our Library resources would be reconfigured.
The Library has a special place in our hearts. We treasure our heritage as "people of the book," and our devotion to books, study and learning continues to inform our decision-making and all of the Y's programming. The decision to change the way we offer library services was not an easy one, but the extraordinary economic pressures facing non-profit organizations and our determination to keep the 92nd Street Y fiscally healthy served as catalysts to make changes sooner rather than later.
We remain committed to providing high-quality library resources but are decentralizing the Buttenwieser Library collection to appropriate locations around the building and creating an accessible ground-floor reading room as a lower-cost alternative to the existing centralized library space. This prudent cost-cutting action, which will save approximately $375,000 per year, is one of many actions we are taking to enable us to maintain vital community programs such as public-school arts outreach, the 60+ program, and scholarships for summer camp, 60+, Noar afterschool, and art, music and dance classes for both children and adults.
Below is a document that we hope will provide a better understanding for the context in which we made this difficult decision; it also provides more information about what we are planning for the future.
We appreciate your continued involvement with the 92nd Street Y and its programs, and we are grateful for your passionate commitment to this community. We will do our best to keep you informed about the transition as we move forward.
Sincerely,
Sol Adler
Executive Director
# # #
92nd Street Y - Reconfiguring Library Resources
July 2009
The Context
The 92nd Street Y serves 300,000 people a year, from newborns to centenarians. Adults and children come to the 92nd Street Y to take classes in art, music, dance and literature; play sports and work out; explore the spirit and history of Judaism; become better informed as parents; attend concerts of classical, jazz and popular music; hear renowned authors read from their work; listen to prominent figures in virtually every field of endeavor address today's issues; watch contemporary dance; and spend time with family and friends.
Like non-profit organizations and corporations around the world, the Y has been confronted with monumental financial challenges this fiscal year. In October 2008, we created a 30-month plan (for January 2009 to June 2011) to stabilize, transition and grow the 92nd Street Y in light of the new economic realities we faced. The 92nd Street Y's endowment was down $20 million due to investment losses; withdrawals needed to cover expenses once funded by investment income; and critical unfunded capital expenses. In addition to the endowment losses, individual donations and income from special events fell $1 million this past year. Grants from foundations, corporations and government sources were also projected to be drastically reduced in the coming year and beyond.
Despite these losses and the unpredictable economic environment, the Y needed to continue operating, providing services, and honoring scholarship requests, which were on the rise. The leadership of the Y also needed to preserve the Y's endowment - which is critical to its fiscal health and stability - from further erosion, not only from stock market losses, but also from withdrawals to cover operating expenses. By reducing expenditures and increasing income, the 30-month plan aimed to trim $8.8 million from the Y's net spending by June 2011.
Having cut $2 million from the 2008-09 budget, and a projected $4 million from the 2009-10 budget, we are on target to meet our goals and maintain the Y's fiscal health. We are achieving these objectives not only with budget cuts, but also with new sources of revenue that the Y has been developing and identification of potential new fundraising opportunities. All of these measures will enable 92Y to provide a solid financial foundation for the Y, insuring its ability to serve this and future generations, even if the economy is slow to recover.
Why the Library?
The reconfiguration of library resources is one part of this overall plan; it will reduce the Y's expenditures by about $375,000 annually, including $175,000 annual savings in rent and maintenance costs for off-site office space (where several departments have been housed for 10 years). Virtually every program and department at the Y has been touched by the 30-month plan. Last year's savings were achieved by instituting a hiring freeze; increasing efficiency and eliminating all non-essential administrative costs; and making the difficult decision to lay off 10% of the Y's staff at all levels of the institution in January 2009. This year's budget reflects reductions in many programs around the Y, including fewer concerts, lectures, literary readings, specialized language and humanities classes and singles events; and fewer performances of the Y's annual dance festival along with its return to the Y after nine years in larger, midtown locations. Several programs were also eliminated or put on hiatus: an after-school science program, a program to mentor young musicians to create and perform outreach concerts, the adult program in music technology, and the annual Women's Health Symposium, among others.
In deciding how to save money on our community programs, we asked ourselves many questions, including: Is there a way to reduce, rather than eliminate this service, and still reduce costs? Would this service or program be available if we did not provide it?
We are aware that some aspects of the Buttenwieser Library will be lost in this transition. But we believe that reconfiguring the Y's library resources will provide a viable lower-cost alternative, especially given how the Library is currently used by our patrons. For example, only half of the 30,000 volumes in the Library have circulated in the past year. The 16-person adult seating area is rarely at capacity, and the children's library is empty many hours of the day. Also, multi-volume encyclopedias, which take up a great deal of shelf space, have been eclipsed by the vast resources of the Internet and electronic reference books that now fit on a thumb-sized disk drive.
The funds we save from the library changes and other program reductions will help us to provide critical funds that can be used to support programs for which there is no alternative, including:
The 60+ program, which provides nearly 700 seniors with a vibrant, stimulating, close-knit community, educational opportunities and discounted fitness center memberships;
Scholarships that enable working people (and those now out of work) to send their children to summer camp or provide afterschool care for their kids at Noar;
Scholarships that help those on a fixed income join the 60+ program, and make it possible for adults and children to study art, music and dance;
Public-school arts outreach programs, which bring the arts to children who would not otherwise encounter music, dance and literature at this level.
Plans for the Future
We are looking at every one of the 30,000 books in the Library collection (even those that have not circulated for years) with both the Library staff and 92Y experts in dance, Judaica, art, etc. so that we can determine whether the book should be: (a) made publicly accessible in one of the reading areas (more on that below); (b) placed in a more restricted area within a specialized department, with public access provided via appointment or (c) given to another, more appropriate public collection. Every book will find a home; none will be discarded.
I have outlined below the specific plans we have in place to make the Library's collection available after July 31.
We are committed to making the core of the Library's Judaica collection available to the public, and will provide more information about this as our plans are finalized.
We will create three circulating children's-book collections in areas where children and their parents and caregivers naturally congregate: picture books on the lower level near Parenting Center programs; books for school-age children on the second floor near the Noar afterschool; and Young Adult books in the teen lounge. Available September 2009.
We understand the strong connection of our 60+ members to the Library, and we will be making part of the current collection available in Warburg Lounge, the program's central gathering area. Available September 2009.
We will create an accessible ground-floor adult reading room, with a comfortable seating area for at least 16 people (the same number of seats in the Library's reading area), a selection of books that can be borrowed, paper periodicals, computer terminals and free wi-fi. This room will be smaller than the Library, but it will also be more visible and more accessible to the community at large. Projected completion date is September 2010.
We will continue to make the online catalog available and will update the system to show where particular books are housed. The catalog is available from any computer with access to the Internet. Available Fall 2009.
Special-interest collections will be housed in the appropriate departments at the Y and curated by expert staff in those areas, e.g., poetry, art, music, etc. Available beginning in Fall 2009.
We are working to identify an interim reading room that can be made available this fall.
The leadership of the 92nd Street Y remains committed to the Y's mission, which mandates not only that we "foster the physical and mental health of human beings throughout their lives, their educational and spiritual growth, and their enjoyment," but also that we "maintain [the Y's] capacity to continue its services into the future." Fulfilling these mandates will no doubt include difficult decisions, like this one, but also innovation, growth and many years of continued service to the community.
|
|
|
|
 |
Library Catalog |
|
|
Internet Access |
|
|
Reference Services |
|
|
Library Collection |
|
|
92nd Street Y Archives |
|
|
| back to top |
|
|
|
| Library Catalog |
|
The Library's collection is searchable through an online catalog.
 |
|
| Locate books by author, title or subject, conduct a sophisticated 'Power Search' or browse by topic. The catalog displays each book's availability, and users may place holds on circulating books. Cardholders can also check online to view their holds, fines and books charged out. For assistance with using the online catalog, please call the Library during our regular hours of business at 212.415.5542. |
|
| back to top |
|
|
|
| Internet Access |
|
| The Buttenwieser Library offers its users free Internet access for one 20-minute interval per day on three computer terminals. Sign-up and use are self-service. |
|
| Printing is available at no charge up to 10 pages per day. We ask users to conserve paper and expense by printing only what they need. |
|
| Word-processing and other applications are not available on these computers. |
|
| back to top |
|
|
|
| Reference Services |
|
| Our professional staff is pleased to provide assistance in the use of library information resources as well as off-site (electronically accessible) research tools. Our goal is for you to find the information you need within our collection, and if that is beyond our scope, to direct you efficiently to a reliable resource. |
|
| back to top |
|
|
|
| Library Collection |
|
| The Buttenwieser Library reflects the Y itself: culturally sophisticated, community-oriented, health conscious and dedicated to learning. We emphasize materials of lasting quality and value while responding to interest in fresh ideas and entertaining reading. |
|
| Newspapers and Periodicals |
|
| Subscriptions to almost 100 newspapers and magazines serve the interests of the newshound, the hobbyist, the literary reader, the history or science buff and the inquisitive child. Older issues of magazines may be borrowed for one week. Current issues may be used only in the library. |
|
| Children's Library |
|
| From toddlers to teens, every young person will find books to delight, inform, inspire or charm. A selection of nearly 9,000 picture books, easy readers, novels and non-fiction awaits the eager reader. |
|
| Judaica Collection |
|
| Explore our rich selection of materials on every aspect of Jewish life, including biblical and Talmudic texts and commentaries, rituals, cooking, art and music, history and biography, philosophy and literature. Reference materials are in their own section, while circulating fiction and non-fiction may be found on the general collection shelves. All children's Judaica is shelved with the children's general collection. Approximately 20% of the library's overall collection is Judaica. |
|
| Adult Fiction Highlights |
|
|
Excellent selection of literary fiction |
|
|
Large print books |
|
| Adult Non-Fiction Highlights |
|
|
Storytelling-related materials |
|
|
Extensive poetry and literature |
|
|
Parenting collection |
|
| Reference Materials |
|
| While the Judaica and children's collections each have their own reference materials, the adult reference collection serves the general reader and seeker of information. Reference materials may be used in the library only. Photocopies are 10 cents per page, self-service. |
|
| back to top |
|
|
|
| 92nd Street Y Archives |
|
The archival resources of the 92nd Street Y document the rich history and diverse activities of the organization since its founding in 1874. Learn more at www.92Y.org/archives.
For more information about the library, call 212.415.5542 / email. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© 2010 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association
All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
