Close the library..Period!

Charge a buck a book until the repair money is paid back.

Why stop the move for solar? Why not investigate the possibility of solar providers which may be willing to fix the roof and and reinforce it at no cost to the town. If you are starting from square one, then look into all options.

And in the mean time, by all means, charge the buck per rental that Mr Pace suggested.

If you cant afford to pay a buck, bring in 1 shingle.

we should just auction off the building and use the proceeds to pay down our debt.

My question is WHO was supposed to be investigating. My guess is that it was the last manager who was so well qualified and kept telling the council that he was looking into it. Sad day for residents. Once again we have to pay when there might have been another way to finance this roof.

Kindle and tablets will be replacing the library, probably within the next 5 years. We will be spending $100 thousand for a building with a short remaining lifespan.

The solar scam only works by stealing from people not using by over charging those who do. With natural gas prices falling and RGGI getting smaller, people with solar panels either are locked into higher rates then everyone else or never recoup thier investment.

Stafford strikes again!!

Make it an indoor skate park

It seems that the flyer sent before the election was right. Republicans, err sorry, "Independants" DO want to close the free public library.

Berdan where un this article do you deduct this assumption?

Stating a fact bell air. The library will be a medical professional building before you know it. Unless it becomes self sustaining.....a buck a book. Seems reasonable to me.

@Stuart I don't think it's reasonable for each person In town is paying $65 on average when the vast majority of people don't use the library.

It may not be the town's to sell. It would all depend on the covenant that was established when Maurice M Pine and the trustees deeded the property. Although I would personally not mind charging, it would probably render the library ineligible for membership in the Bergen County Cooperative Library System. which would not be too good in the broad scheme of things. I use and love having a library. If you do not think you community needs one read this article (http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/may/18/country-without-libraries/?) oh and also, you would be able to stop comparing Fair Lawn to any other community in the area. I'd love to hear your local Realtor sell a prospective buyer this line.

Its technology baby. Land line phones are slowly going away, cable TV will be streamed eventually, the Model T ford will eventually disappear..it's inevitable. The "free" public library will suffer the same fate. Its sad, but true.

@fl1985. I read the figure in an article on another site, however, the stat is either completely wrong or outdated. As of the 2010 Census, 32,457 people live in Fair Lawn. According to the borough website, we spent $2,284,932. Which is almost three times as much at $180.16 for every man woman and child.

As for deed restrictions, if they do exist, we should not repair the roof and turn the property back over to the trust along with a muni tax bill.

Well, $2,208,490 was the 2011. However, I am sure there is state aid and federal programs that reduces that number further. But you should check for yourself how much you pay, as of 2011 the library tax is a separate line item on your tax roll. http://www.northjersey.com/news/118895204_Spending_on_libraries_now_on_tax_bills.html

We're on to the "I don't use it so no one else should need it" argument. God bless you if all you need is on the internet and you're fine with your searches being limited by whoever pays enough to place their product first. You'll never understand how helpful a librarian is in one's research, both as a child and adult. The lessons learned of sharing, lending, borrowing, the responsibility of keeping something in good condition so someone else can use it after you and the punishments for not returning things on time are lost to you.

But all you boys seem to be on the same page on so many things. Let's for a minute say you all got your way. There's no more library, pool, community center, public education, recycling, or activities for children. What makes Fair Lawn desirable to people looking to buy a home? What would make people want our 60+ year old housing stock of mediocre cape cods and splits? Would it be our business friendly environment and proximity to nail salons, tattoo parlors and a Shop Rite with a broken people mover?

BellairBerdan, my way isnt to get rid of all those things, so dont make false assumptions. I believe your questions of: What makes Fair Lawn desirable to people looking to buy a home? What would make people want our 60+ year old housing stock of mediocre cape cods and splits? Would it be our business friendly environment and proximity to nail salons, tattoo parlors and a Shop Rite with a broken people mover?
should be pointed at your pals from the past and present councils. So thanks for agreeing with :us boys" Adolpho was correct is pointing out your political prostitution.You are part of the problem taking FL down the wrong path, as proven by listing a broken people mover as a reason not to come to Fair Lawn. Get real

I never said get rid of the library. I maintain that a buck a book is a reasonable price to check out a book. Gotta pay to use Memorial, why not pay for a book?

@Stuart why should we fund a company that competes with Amazon and Barnes and Nobels? $2.2 million a year + the loss of a large ratable and retirement benefits for years to come. What a waste!! It's almost as bad as the 70,000,000 gallons of water we pump into the Passiac River loaded up with chlorine and other chemicals.

@BellairBerdan, just because it's a good idea for the town to do things like fund emergency services and education, it doesn't mean everything it funds is worthwhile, nor does it mean it's done well. I'm tired of politicians telling us about the wonderful things they get us and then run and hide when we get the bill. If I got together with a few neighbors and wanted a town zoo, should everyone else be forced to buy the land, pay for the donkeys and elephants, their care, etc? Of course not. The library, the pool which excludes those who don't pay the extra tax to use it, and community center, are all complete wastes of money. Money taken from property owners in Fair Lawn under threat of violence.

FL1985, Im not upset subsidizing anything with the library and I am glad you use it, as you know from being there, you are in the minority. In your own post, you list its demise...ebooks.

If you have children, or actually leave your computers for five minutes, you might comprehend that the library offers services that are not outmoded, and serve a purpose in the community. When I can take a device with me and read it on the beach without fear, when a child can look at pictures they hold in their hands as they do with a real book....libraries will never be outmoded by a Kindle or anything else. Besides the simple fact that you can not "borrow" a book on a device, but have to pay and download it for each reading, because it is keyed to the device and to do so you have to borrow the device itself. The library offers computers to the public, cultural services like art, educational programs, and reading materials that come from the past for researchers and students. Perhaps 100 years from now every book ever printed will be digitized and in some electronic form, but it will never replace the ability to function without electronics, or a computer, or a dedicated device for the spread of information to places without them, in societies where much of what we take for granted just does not exist - where there cell towers are few and far between. As for the ignorant that don't understand that society is more than commerce, and government is more than sweeping streets and picking up trash in front of their home, get off your butt and out of your little insular world; for the poor, a public library is a chance at education and betterment. Or do you begrudge that, too?

For those that keep saying you can't borrow a book on device, please get your facts straight, you most certainly can "borrow" these items from the library. So let's see all you readers; stop buying ebooks for $7.99 to $9.99 per title and get them from your library for free. Save yourself some money and support your local library. Don't worry, you won't have to spoil your image and actually go to the library, you can still download it to your device.

might be time to somehow merge the High School and the Borough Libraries.

It would just be the same tax, called a different thing.

The library is part of a county wide system. It would probably get subsidies considering it's one of the largest in the county.

Can we ask the borough to sell the portion of the street in front of "Paine's" house for profit? It's pretty obvious that he never leaves it. And citing the works of authors whose free reading you endorse making more difficult for others is a wee bit ironic. No more ironic than revealing that you have no reading comprehension, having claimed to have read them. Rather funny to have seen you at the council meeting, mistating facts, and complaining about the paving on your street at the same time while telling the Council to sell of the library, the Senior Center and the pool, all over a twenty-dollar increase in your water bill. But that's that fine, libertarian thought processes at work - convinced the government is conspiring to do you dirty at the same time driving on the public roads and highways, buying food from stores with health inspectors and drinking from the public water supply....

Watching "Thomas Paine" tonight was amazing. First of all he obviously knows nothing about what keeps a town going. Services are there for the community as a whole. You might not use one service that your neighbor uses and your neighbor might not use another service that you use. It's called a community. Let's also pave a street because Public service did work and it is two different colors for a while. Crazy!! Then you have Adolpho who doesn't even live here thinking he knows Fair Lawn. Anyone else think that's strange?

It's nice to see how loved I am, but I was not at the borough council meeting, I was on a 6:30 flight. Even if I wasn't heading out on a trip with my significant other, I wouldn't be there on Valentines Day or any other day. Complaining to elected officials doesn't work unless you show up in big numbers. Even then, it doesn't always work, nor should it.

There is a proper role for government, and things it should do. Maintaining a proper police force and other emergency services, maintaining common access, ie roads and sidewalks, providing for the education of children are a few that come to mind. Running social clubs, pools and libraries are not. While many folks may enjoy the later, it doesn't mean the government should do it. I enjoy target practice, does that mean the borough should open up a range for those of us who do?