Thank you for explaining it Bill. I also received a copy of a newspaper article which says that the Library will start returning the CCHS mail to the post office, and will remove them from the website. These steps will certainly cause problems for genealogists. I hope the library director will rethink this if he has not already. It seems to me that the library benefits from the historical materials available through the CCHS. Also, I wonder what would become of the newspaper microfilms. Who owns them? In Beaver Falls I recently spent a couple of days using the Research Center for Beaver County and Local History, which is located in the Carnegie Free Library. They also have wonderful materials for researchers. They are partially funded by the Beaver County Commissioners, and the library "generously provides the space, utilities, and other services." Marilyn Mills Hesse ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Moore" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 2:49 AM Subject: Re: [Crawf'rd] report on trip to Crawford Co. | Kathy: | I won't pretend to be a disinterested reporter of the Library-Historical | Society feud, since I've been a director of the Historical Society off and | on for the last 20+ years. But since you asked what is going on, I thought | I'd try to explain. | The Meadville Public Library [MPL] leadership has decided that the Crawford | Co. Historical Society [CCHS] is a freeloading tenant in the MPL building, | since the MPL supplies one 20-hr./week staff member free of charge to the | CCHS, and the CCHS pays no rent for the space. The MPL wants the CCHS space | for library purposes, and wants to move CCHS into another library building 3 | blocks away, and start charging the CCHS for staff and utilities. | The CCHS cannot afford the cost [which would be about $20,000/yr. according | to figures guess-timated by MPL last year, and that is more than 20% of the | CCHS' present budget of $90,000/yr.] The CCHS has a modest endowment, and | not many sources of income, so it is a struggle to meet the budget every | year as it is. | The CCHS' position is that BOTH the CCHS and the MPL are PART of the | Meadville Library, Art and Historical Association [MLAHA]. The MLAHA was | set up in 1879, and at that point included the MPL, the CCHS, and the now | defunct Natural History Society and Art Society. The current building | [built in 1925] is titled to the MLAHA, and originally housed the MPL, CCHS | and the Art Society. Contributions to the MLAHA and its endowment were made | by persons interested in any or all of the three organizations, as well as | to the parts individually. The MPL leadership is now claiming that it is | the SOLE owner of the MLAHA building and endowment, and that's why the CCHS | has no right to be there. The CCHS claims that it is part of the MLAHA [as | is the MPL] so it has a right to part of the building where it has been for | 75 years--rent-free--as well as income from its part of the MLAHA endowment | which should cover staff and upkeep costs. A gentleman in his 90's recently | wrote to the editor of the Tribune and said he remembered the fund-raising | campaign for the new building in 1925 and it was based on support for all | three groups--the MPL, CCHS and Art Society--and NOT just the MPL. | So that's the bone of contention. The CCHS would very seriously consider | moving to other quarters to accomodate the MPL's space needs, if the CCHS | could obtain the other space on the same terms as its present location--a | free staff person and no rent. The MPL doesn't want to continue to provide | the staff and space, and so the disagreement. | Personally, I think it would cost the MPL substantially to build up a | collection of historical books if the CCHS were no longer there. If the | CCHS does have to leave the library building, and cannot afford the other | space offered, I really don't know where it can go. Probably mostly into | storage. CCHS does own an historic house--the Baldwin/Reynolds House | museum--but, like most houses, its floors are not built to carry the weight | of shelving, and the basement is too damp for book/document storage. | If anyone would like to voice an opinion one way or the other--or offer | suggestions--the appropriate persons would be: | Ms. Gerry Deane Mr. Stephen Mizner | President, CCHS President, MPL/MLAHA | neither has a listed telephone number, so I presume the address for both | should be 848 N. Main St., Meadville, PA 16335. | Bill Moore | Secretary, CCHS |