Tommy,

It's five Fridays in the slowest part of the year. One month. Besides, why would they show up? Read the article:

The move comes as no surprise to library staff, who have been aware that they would be furloughed on all five Fridays in August since budget discussions began in early spring.

And the D would stand for???

Thomas P [Withheld] is my name.

Fair Lawn already belongs to the BCCLS which lessens the financial burden on all the towns that are members.

FLemp you are exactly right! If we can't get them to use ours, how about we use one of their's?

Deleted, you may want to spend sometime at the library and look up what a fascist is. They are substantially similar to "Progressives" Read up on Margret Sanger, Edward Bernays, Fabian Socialists, and statists in general.

The library is not under "attack" to prevent people from learning. Its to protect what people are earning. No one is calling for banning books, burning them etc. I personally would be okay running the library the way Ben Franklin setup the first libraries in this country. You know, those who use it, pay for it.

Are they giving away books on free Kindle's now? It's all about costs - to the people that need the resources, not to the whining wanna-bes who complain that services provided are cutting into their me-ness. And keep your mythology to yourself. The only thing close-minded around here is the brain that can not fathom that everyone does not have a Kindle, or access to the internet, or a quiet place to read or do homework, or people to encourage them to do so. The library is a hub of the community, even if you prefer to sit behind your keyboard and stay in isolation. Children, old people, parents, singles, support groups, artists, film lovers, all use programs or participate in things only available as a free public service at libraries. Of course, there's that "free" thing that so chills your nuts because you have less to spend on only yourself because of the evil of taxation. And, just to point it out to you, an alarmist is someone who jumps at nothing, A realist is someone that reads twaddle and see the posturing that fights against any public benefit for the poor or the less fortunate, the dumbing down of schools, and remembers how these things are hallmarks in every country that slides down the slope to the depths of rightist paranoid theocrazies. It is ALL about denying something to someone else. it's "get a job and go buy yourself a Kindle like I have", or "an IPhone like I have" because "everyone is downloading books now". You are penny dear and pound foolish. .

Have you considered how the library's source of funding is denying people from using their hard earned money since its taken from them to support a library that most people don't use?

The library isn't fee, we pay for it.

First of all, "access to ANY literature almost anywhere at anytime" assuming you have electric (which given the lousy power infrastructure of Bergen County is not really a given, is it), money for device, and money to shell out for electronic books. Also those books have to be available as e-books, which a significant portion of the books available in the world, let alone the BCCLS, is not. (Well, ok, you might be able to pirate most books, but why break the law?) Obviously that doesn't get you good quality picture books if you have kids. However, the per-family cost of the library is pretty low. 2-3 videogames, 5-10 Kindle books, 1/4 of a kindle, or 2.5 O'Reilly books would wipe it out. You couldn't even get a year's worth of World of Warcraft account for the cost of the library per household.

It's the close-minded belief of technophiles that everything is available online for cheap and somehow they'd save $100s if not $1000s of dollars if the library was closed that baffles me. You could recoup your investment in 2 weeks just getting ebooks from the library instead of buying something you'll only delete once you've read it. Yet instead of seeing it as a way to save money, you bitch and moan about how much it costs because you're too lazy to use it?

I pay taxes in this town, but I guess using services in town makes me a "leech" with "grubby hands" in the mind of dimwits.

Oh well.... that's like being kicked in the shins by a pygmy.

Dude, you have as much ability to use both the online and in person services of the library to leverage it and save your money as anyone else. Nobody's leeching off you. You don't want a library? Move to a town that doesn't have one.

Because National Night Out is more focused to and around the residential neighborhoods.

It used to be on the open house locations, as was the municipal building, but for whatever reason, it was removed about a decade ago in exchange for an event at a remote location - just the opposite of the premise for "National Night Out", where neighbors celebrate and "take back" their own neighborhoods. I guess you can't justify holding staff extra hours when you shutter the door and cry poverty.

Here is some knowledge you can find at the library (and many other places). Taxes are taking under threat of force. We spend MILLIONS on the library while Amazon has over 22 million titles for less than $10. Its much cheaper to give everyone a credit to buy books from Amazon then run a library.

Some more knowledge for you, we have over 60 town libraries in the county, each high school has one, most grade schools too, there are over 500 libraries in this county alone. Is all that redundancy really needed?

If each taxpayer had their library taxes refunded, the 99% would actually have it better since we could get a wide selection of books, faster.

Tommy, you're the numbers guy. How much exactly will each taxpayer be saving a year by closing the library?

That would depend on your tax bill. The library is now broken out so you can see what you are paying. On average its about $200.

How did I know you were going to pull the 200 number out of your ummm hat? But let's go with that. Say you want a video. You'll need a cable connection, say $30 per month and an internet connection another 30. Then you'll have to join blockbuster another $10. oh, but because of the free market, different movies are exclusive to different companies. You'll need Netflix too, but not everything is on the downloadable netflix, you'll need the mail version as well. That's $20, and Hulu plus, another $10. So here we are, $100 per month and you haven't rented a movie yet. Want a book? A textbook maybe because you want to look something up quick? $200 please. Somehow I don't think your $200 per year saving really adds up.

I broke down these numbers previously. Between the pool, library and Rec Center, your outlay per year is under $150 of your tax bill. Less than 15 bucks per month. Stop your whining and move already!

Tommy,

Please provide one REPUTABLE link where it states that your taxes are taken under force or the threat of violence. One damn link!! And by reputable, I'll take as far right as a Malkin or Linbaugh, or as far left as any Olberman or Maher. But it can't be some lunatic in a basement somewhere in the Mid West.

Chris, I don't need a link. Just stop paying your property taxes or income taxes. Its just a matter of time before people with guns will show up to remove you from your home and put you in a jail cell. If that's not a threat of violence, I must misunderstand what the word violence means. We having sitting members of congress in BOTH houses that have the same point view. Not just "crazy people in the midwest" and little old me in Radburn. You may want to read a book called "The Law" by Bastiat. They actually have it in the library.

Zak did an article in May which highlighted circulation was down 15% since 2009. People are voting with their feet and the numbers since continue the trend. Most people don't use the library, the vast majority don't use the pool, same can be said about the rec department, senior center and community center.

As for your numbers, lets try some math here. Library Budget is over $2,200,000 divide that by 11,930 households, that's over $185 on average. The pool, Sr center & rec department wastes more than the library, there is another $200. The payments on the community center is another $1m. Without much effort there is about $500 in waste. Sure, you have opined how you live in a less than average older non-updated home, so your savings maybe a bit less. Although no matter how you slice it, that's 10% of the budget and we didn't even address the outrageous salaries some of our "civil servants" make. etc.

BellairBerdan, if the library is such a great value, I am sure you should be able to get enough people together to start one on your own. Kind of like Ben Franklin did, look up membership or lending libraries.

You don't need a cable connection to get internet. Besides, I thought we were talking about knowledge, which implies books. What knowledge does Batman Returns or any other Hollywood movie bring to the table?

The more fundamental question is why do you think its okay for government to money from people to fund YOUR entertainment? Your case on books is weak enough, but movies are educational how? Besides, from what I understand many of the videos at the library are defective. The family that lives door to me tried to borrow some children's video and gave up after the first five attempts were defective DVDs.

tommy all your posts are exacty the same. its all personal preference and if you use any of the services provided you really cant complain about the ones you dont use.

for example i have NO need for my recycling to be picked up. recycling is not a NEED, any able body person is capable of bringing there recycling to the recycling center. elderly residents or residents with physical disabilities who live alone would be the exception. but if the town did not pick up recycling for all physically able residents we would save a lot of money.
i personally would rather cut recycling over the library, pool, or rec center. however i am not a close minded individual like yourself and realize just because i dont use it doesnt mean other residents dont.
you cant just say only 15% of the town uses this service so lets close it. you have to look at it like this: 15 % use pool, 10 % use library, 5% use senior center, 20% need recycling, 15% use the rec center, etc- you have to add those all up and say the majority of the residents need or use at least one of these services.

In the world that "tommy" lives in - and his ilk - everyone gives nothing to anyone else, who clearly is either stupid or inferior and deserving of living in a lesser state in life. While people like themselves are somehow better than the people that steal their money for such evils as public streets, drinking water plants, garbage collection and [gasp] public libraries and senior centers.

@Wow, there is a clear difference between entertainment and things like trash/recycling pick up, police and fire. The pool, sr and community centers, and library are entertainment. The reality is, if we ended these programs the vast majority of those who benefit would be able to find alternatives which cost less than the savings they would realize on property taxes assuming the monies weren't diverted elsewhere.

@deleted I have no issue with public roads, public water and sewer, garbage collection, etc. I do have issue with the govermwnt using those monopolies to make a "profit". I have issue with government subsidized entertainment.

I understand how government is funded, it's from our pockets. We have no choice about paying for what the government does. There are somethings government should do, entertainment shouldn't be one of them.

Ed, its a bit more complicated then, All-Sports is a secretive private organization that gets a tiny amount of direct aide from the town (under $20,000), while collecting a good amount in user fees. They refuse to open their books and their are rumors circulating around town about how some of it its leadership is enriching themselves.

With all that said, they have a virtual monopoly on the use of our athletic fields which they pay NOTHING for. We spend over a million dollars on the "rec dept" in salaries and benefits. When Councilman Peluso challenged some of the salaries and positions, the Republicans stone walled him.

In addition to Rec department, lets not forget to account for Board Ed's spending, you don't even want to know how much we spend there.

Tommy wants them dumb AND fat.

Your opinion is so off and slanted as well.

Chris, I am not sure why you "love" me so much. I don't want anyone to be dumb or fat. I think sports programs are excellent and every parent should not only encourage their kids to stay fit, but should do so themselves. The idea that government needs to fund it is where my concern comes in, why not have government dinner too?

In concept I like the idea of All Sports, I am just against them using the fields for free while taking money from the municipal budget. If they opened up their books and paid for field access, I'd open my check book and send a donation.

How much in grounds maintenance etc. do we pay to support all-sports?