Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • September 5, 2012 Area Wyckoff Library Board returns $776,141 to township by John Koster Mayor Christopher De Phillips and members of the Wyckoff Township Committee were delighted and grateful for the $776,141 returned to Wyckoff’s municipal funds for tax relief in 2013 and 2014. “This is a great thing for the municipal government and a great relief to the taxpayers,” Mayor DePhillips said. De Phillips explained that, under New Jersey state law, the library board had to return any surplus that was not consumed for library operating expenses. This year, the board withheld about $460,000 in contingency funds to ensure the library expansion, which was finished earlier this year, was completed in order. When the library was completed and reopened to general acclaim earlier this year, the library board returned that unconsumed contingency money along with another $326,000 that was once earmarked for operating expenses, but was not used. Mayor De Phillips and Wyckoff Township Committeeman Doug Christie had been members of the library board and urged the board to allocate the surplus money to tax relief for the general public. “It’s going to be a huge help in making up the budgets for 2013 and 2014,” said Township Committeeman Kevin Rooney, who was the governing body’s liaison to the Wyckoff Library Board last year. “As the finance chair, and as a resident and taxpayer, I’m extremely grateful and extremely happy,” Rooney said. “That’s a significant amount of money!” The money will be returned in four quarterly increments. Half of the money should be available for Wyckoff tax relief in the 2013 calendar year, and the other half in the 2014 calendar year. All members of the township committee praised Wyckoff Library Board Vincent Antonacci for his responsible and constructive action in returning the rebate from the money collected by the state and forwarded to the library board. The library board is legally autonomous from the township committee. The library, which is directed by Mary Witherell, reopened to the public on May 19. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed by a day of special activities for community members of all ages. The renovation and expansion cost approximately $4 million, which was covered by the library board’s use of funds from the regular library budget. Funds were systematically set aside over several years to cover the cost of the project so there would be no additional burden on the taxpayers. The project was accomplished with “green” materials used in the newly constructed addition and in the renovated adult area. Solar panels and other energy-saving devices were also installed. During the last year before construction, in 2009, the library loaned a record-breaking 260,452 items and handled 90,502 inter-library loan requests from Wyckoff residents and from patrons of other libraries in the Bergen County Cooperative Library System, which can lend books from other county libraries and from a number of academic libraries around New Jersey. More than 67,000 questions were fielded by the Wyckoff Library reference team, and the Wyckoff Library greeted more than 200,000 patron visits during 2009. The renovated library includes a new Children’s Room that accommodates 6,000 children’s books formerly shelved in the adult part of the library, a Young Adult area, and additional space for research, reading, and computer use. The number of computers available for public use has doubled. The renovated library has more space for best-sellers, DVDs, and CDs. Wyckoff has long been noted for its expansive collection of feature films and documentaries not available at many other libraries. Some of the materials that had previously been in storage are now more accessible to the public. The library is now able to accommodate 80,000 volumes. The library now has three public meeting rooms, including a large new space on the lower level: the Henry Shotmeyer Jr. Room. This 150-seat meeting room will ultimately have a stage and full audio system for concerts. The room was named in memory of the former mayor and library board member. Henry “Henk” Shotmeyer III previously explained that he donated the $30,000 needed to complete the room after he stepped down from the library board. Library officials decided to name the meeting room after Henry Shotmeyer Jr., who was Henk Shotmeyer’s father. Once the work was completed, virtually everyone who toured the renovated building was favorably impressed with the quality of the planning and construction. Ready to learn A few of the kids get ready for the school year at The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood.