Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 19:07:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Prof. N. Laxman Rao.
New York Court Declares That Libraries Are Educational InstitutionsBy
Michael Kelley�Jun 2, 2011�
In a decision being hailed by librarians in New York, the�Supreme Court of
Suffolk County�has ruled that libraries are educational institutions. The
decision places libraries squarely on the same privileged level as schools
and churches when it comes to zoning disputes and may also position them
advantageously for future budget battles. The court�declared�on May 17
that the East Hampton Library is entitled to expand its children's area
without being subject to an environmental review that the local zoning
board had been insisting upon. Chartered libraries such as East Hampton
"are, indeed, educational uses and as such, serve the same inherently
beneficial effects on the community as do schools," and are, therefore,
entitled to "the same deferential treatment in zoning and like matters
that are accorded to schools and religious institutions," the ruling
reads. Ruling might make lawmakers think differently
"This decision recognizes that libraries are not cultural amenities. They
are educational institutions and are an essential public service," said
Michael Borges, the executive director of the New York Library Association
(NYLA). NYLA filed an amicus brief in the case as did�The Suffolk
Cooperative Library System, the�Library Trustees Association of New York,
and the�Long Island Library Resource Council. "This sets us up nicely to
work with state policy makers to get them to recognize that libraries
deserve the same type of support and recognition that schools get," Borges
said. "It recognizes libraries as educational institutions and librarians
as educators." Mary Ellen O'Connor, the president of the Library Trustees
Association of New York, agreed that the ruling may enhance the value of
libraries in the eyes of lawmakers. "I was very happy that the decision
ran in favor of the library because we are so undervalued in New York, and
you can see that from the amount of money that gets cut from libraries
every year by the legislature. So, it's a very good first step in really
trying to get people to think differently about libraries," she said. "We
always say everybody loves the library, and they do, but loving it is one
thing and understanding the education component of libraries is another
thing," O'Connor said. "This decision brings peoples awareness level up so
that they understand that education takes places in libraries, and I think
if people understand the educational element of libraries that would
definitely help at budget time," she said. Since the decision is only by
one of New York's supreme courts (there is a supreme court in each of New
York's 62 counties) and not a federal court, Borges does not think the
ruling will have implications beyond New York, but it, nonetheless, has a
particular resonance because of growing�efforts�in places such as Los
Angeles to redefine the role of librarians as something less than an
educator. "I don't think there have been a lot of court cases about the
definition of libraries as an educational institution in the last ten or
20 years," said Dennis Fabiszak, the director of the East Hampton Library.
"Either nobody has challenged it, or, with shrinking library budgets,
libraries that have been put into a bad situation didn't have the
resources to carry a dispute through to the end," he said. Other libraries
won't have to go through same fight
In East Hampton's case, the eight-year battle with the village's Zoning
Board of Appeals cost nearly a half million dollars to fight, paid for
through donations, Fabiszak said. The zoning board had refused in July
2010 to grant two variances and a permit for the expansion project, and it
asserted that the library was subject to its jurisdiction because while it
"may well be, for some purposes, defined and treated in the law as an
educational institution, it should not be considered as such for zoning
purposes nor under�SEQRA�[the state's environmental law]." The library
argued that its status as an institution chartered by the Board of Regents
of the University of the State of New York entitled it to "the deferential
treatment with respect to zoning requirements that educational and
religious institutions have long enjoyed." The court backed the library,
saying it was chartered by the Board of Regents, thus ensuring that it is
"accorded not-for-profit educational corporation status under�Education
Law 216-a." The court noted that "in addition to providing traditional
library resources, it offers numerous instructional programs, classes,
lectures and lessons, all of which are, unequivocally, educational in
nature." "The judge said it perfectly: libraries are an inherent public
good," said Kevin Verbesey director of the Suffolk Cooperative Library
System. "It will save other libraries from having to go through this
process," he said. The decision will apply to all�756 public libraries�in
the state, as well as the state's 355 association libraries, all of which
are chartered by the Board of Regents. They all are public libraries, but
anassociation library�is created by a membership association, while a
public library is created by a municipality or the state legislature. The
6800-square-foot expansion will now proceed since the village will not
appeal the decision. "Clarifying that the library is an educational
institution makes it clear that libraries are exempt from the
environmental law of New York if they are doing an expansion of less than
10,000 feet," Fabiszak said. "The fact that no other library will have to
go through this process is very important," he said.
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