Librarian, Donna Block speaks during Tuesday evening's "Save the Niles Library Rally" at Nico Park, July 20, 2021. Organizers gathered at the park and then marched to the library for the public hearing to speak on the subject of the tentative budget and appropriations ordinance. (Brian O'Mahoney for the Pioneer Press) (Brian OMahoney / Pioneer Press)
A crowd of more than 150 Niles-Maine District Library supporters and employees rallied July 20 against proposed cuts to the library’s budget and hours of operation, then marched to a public hearing where they spent more than three and a half hours pleading with library board trustees to keep the budget intact and avoid slashing personnel, materials, programs, events, outreach to schools and nursing homes and more.
The crowd, which included State Sen. Ram Villivalam, an 8th district Democrat, gathered at a Niles park close to the library before marching to the library for a scheduled public hearing on the proposed 2021-22 budget. Many held signs that read “save our library.”
The rally was organized by both the Niles Coalition, a group of community members which has a Save Niles Library initiative, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31, the union representing library employees.
The Niles-Maine Library Board was scheduled to meet July 21 to vote on the proposed budget, which was originally $7.4 million, as presented by staff in early June, but now contains $1.5 million in cuts, or 20% of the total.
“It’s easy to destroy something and hard to rebuild it,” said library supporter Janice Cha, who attended the rally. “The Niles Library is such a gem in this area.”
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“It’s one of the reasons I moved to Niles,” added supporter Helen Poulos-Frys. “I thought it had a great library.”
Many in the crowd chanted “budget cuts have got to go” during the march to the library, where a crowd packed the board meeting room and overflowed into space on the first floor, where additional seating and speakers were set up.
From approximately 6:30 until past 10 p.m., dozens of residents, some noticeably emotional, pleaded with board members to reconsider the proposed $1.5 million in reductions to staffing, materials, programs, school outreach and building improvements, and a plan to cut weekly library hours from 70 to 54.
Members of the overflow crowd applauded, cheered or booed speakers throughout the meeting, despite Board President Carolyn Drblik admonishing them early in the meeting not to do so.
There were brief moments when opponents of the budget cuts, who made up a majority of the overflow crowd, clashed with a handful of supporters. One audience member appeared to mock a teenager who was speaking against the cuts.
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Drblik herself interrupted some speakers, saying they were not making statements that were “relevant” to the budget.
Library Trustee Olivia Hanusiak, one of a bloc of four trustees who proposed the significant budget cuts, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting. Hanusiak was absent from two prior board meetings as well.
“These budget cuts will reprehensibly damage this community,” said Surdeep Chauhan, who attended the rally holding a sign that called for the resignation of Drblik, Hanusiak, Joe Makula, and Suzanne Schoenfeldt, each of whom voted in favor of the tentative budget in June. “You should all be embarrassed for yourselves that even a proposal like this was introduced.”
“Your budget cuts are an attack on working class, low-income families who, let’s not forget, are predominately people of color — you know, people who are not represented on your board,” said speaker Daniel Bedoya. “This is a library; it’s an institution of the free exchange of knowledge and ideas. Your conservative politics have no place in these halls.”
Bedoya lashed out at the board, promising that they can expect “angry citizens like myself” to continue appearing at meetings if the budget, as presented, is passed.
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Former Niles Trustee Rosemary Palicki urged the board to work together on solutions that will benefit all residents and listen to those residents, not just those who cast votes in the April’s low-turnout election, which resulted in Hanusiak, Makula and Schoenfeldt joining the board.
“You weren’t elected just to represent 8% of the population,” Palicki said. “You were elected to represent all of us.”
Niles Library Youth Librarian Cate Levinson called the proposed cuts “drastic and devastating.”
“We are on the front lines every day,” she said of library staff. “We are the ones who know what this library needs most, but you dismiss our suggestions without even listening to them.”
Several speakers addressed the funding that was removed from the budget for roof replacement, saying that not doing the work now would only end up costing the library more down the line or could result in catastrophic damage to the building and books if the roof were to fail.
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About five supporters of the proposed budget cuts also addressed the board over the course of the evening.
“The library ‘wants’ are insatiable,” said resident Bob Zalesny. “There’s limited funds and you’ve got to think about the taxpayers.”
Resident Sam Zampano said the newly elected board members should be given “a chance to perform before we start raking (them) all over the coals.”
On June 16, the library board voted 4-3 in support of a tentative $5.9 million spending plan for the library, down 20% from the original $7.4 million proposed.
Library trustees and administrators have declined to answer questions about the budget and did not respond to a Freedom of Information Act request seeking answers to several questions ahead of the budget meetings.
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The library is currently operating without an executive director following the resignation of director Susan Dove Lempke during a meeting of the board on June 18. Lempke said she resigned because she believed the board intended to fire her that evening.
Lempke attended Tuesday’s rally, saying she had come to show support for the library’s staff and Niles community.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
State Sen. Ram Villivalam addresses a crowd protesting a proposed 20% budget cut to the Niles-Maine District Library. Library supporters gathered at a park July 20 and planned to march to the library for a public hearing on the budget. (Jennifer Johnson / Pioneer Press)
Lauren Velazquez of Morton Grove holds a sign during a “Save the Niles Library Rally” at Nico Park in Niles on July 20. (Brian OMahoney / Pioneer Press)
Elizabeth Nichols attends a “Save the Niles Library Rally” at Nico Park on July 20. (Brian OMahoney / Pioneer Press)
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