Camden library to join county system

The downtown Camden library, nestled between the county jail and courthouse on Federal Street, will officially close Feb. 11, while the newer Ferry Avenue location, closer to suburbia, has been saved and will likely be revamped.

The Camden County Library Commission voted unanimously to have the City of Camden join the county library system, making it the 27th municipality to do so. City residents will have to pay a library tax of 4 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. A family with a home worth $100,000 would pay $40 per year in library tax.

The tax revenue from Camden residents will help pay for the Ferry Avenue branch and residents living outside the city will not have the burden of paying for an additional branch, said Linda Devlin, the county library system director.

"I pride myself on the efficiency of this library system," Devlin said. "We need to make this work for the taxpayers."

The county decided it could operate only the Ferry Avenue branch, a one-story, 15,000-square-foot building near Ninth Street. The much larger Federal Street library will close, and some of its assets will be used throughout the county system.

The change, approved at a scheduled Library Commission meeting that attracted no one from the public, will be effective Feb. 11. The Ferry Avenue branch will open under county ownership Feb. 14.

Friday's decision came after several months of talks between Camden County and the City of Camden on how to save the city's libraries, following the city library board's decision that it could not operate with its budget.

"It's a sad day for Camden," said city library trustee Frank Fulbrook. "We're losing a city library system that has operated since 1905, long before there was a county library system."

Fulbrook blamed Mayor Dana L. Redd for the demise of the library system, saying she "created a financial crisis" by slashing the library budget so much.

Facing a large budget deficit, Redd cut funding to all city departments. The library system suffered the most on a percentage basis, with more than 57 percent cut. It went from an operating budget of $923,000 last fiscal year to $390,000 this year.

If the system had just $60,000 more this year, Fulbrook said, it could have survived with one branch and reduced hours.

"We could've gotten through it," in hope that by the start of the next fiscal year in June, the library system could have received better funding, he said.

All 20 of the library employees received layoff notices last month and their last day will be Feb. 11. Some may be rehired by the county, Devlin said.

Nine jobs were posted for the Ferry Avenue branch, which include librarians, assistants, maintenance persons, and a branch manager. The county is interviewing candidates for the branch manager's position, which city library employees were able to apply for, and should have its decision by the end of next week, Devlin said.

Though operation hours have yet to be finalized, the Ferry Avenue branch will most likely be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Fulbrook said city residents might have a difficult time getting to their only library via public transportation, whereas the downtown library was easy for everyone.

"I don't agree it's a good deal at all," he said.

"It's not the safest walk" to the Ferry Avenue location, Fulbrook said. "They'll have to walk through some drug dealer territory."

A $100,000 donation from a local couple, John Langan and Judy Nadell, will be used to fund some start-up costs at the Ferry Avenue branch, including materials for children, furniture, signage, and the task of putting city library records and books into the county's automated system.

There are also ongoing talks between the county and Rutgers-Camden about using space within the Paul Robeson Library as a county library branch to compensate for the loss of the Federal Street library.

Rutgers-Camden spokesman Mike Sepanic said the university was working to determine how to deliver "services to the citizens of Camden while, at the same time, allowing Rutgers to maintain services for its students and faculty."