Rodgers Memorial Library Director Linda Pilla, Library Trustee Chair Karen Bohrer, and other members of the Rodgers Board of Trustees attended the Aug. 26 meeting of the Hudson Board of Selectmen to discuss what the town should do with the historic Hills Memorial Library building.
“Our questions to all of you are what our next steps should be,” said Bohrer. “We are ceasing library operations at Hills, the Library Board of Trustees will no longer be meeting in the Hills building, the Friends of the Library have ended their book sales out of the Hills building and are in the process of clearing out the books that are still there, and we will be moving our meetings to HCTV headquarters, and the Friends will be looking for other opportunities for their book sales and other fundraisers.”
Beyond the occasional meeting and book sale, the Hills Memorial Library has seen only limited use over the past 16 years. Most library operations moved to the Rodgers Memorial Library building in 2009.
“For maintenance, if there’s anything you believe is pertinent or needs to be done right away, we’d like to have a head’s up,” said Selectmen Chair Dillion Dumont. “To me I think it’s a decision that needs to be made before the School Board, as well as the Selectmen.”
Pilla confirmed there were significant past flooding issues in the Hills basement, along with drainage and roofing issues.
“This came up before the Board of Selectmen a couple of years ago, and we weren’t interested, at that time, in taking over. What came out at that time was that the Historical Society was looking at using that building as a research center on Hudson history,” said Selectman David Morin. “I know the library has many things in their basement that relate to history.”
He suggested a collaboration between the Historical Society and the library for the use and oversight of the Hills building. The logistical issues of managing the Hills building remained the primary issue for whoever would end up taking over.
“The responsibilities for Hills are substantially greater than we are able to properly sustain,” stated Pilla, who outlined just how much time she had to dedicate to dealing with the basement flooding, time she could not commit to the growing use of the library’s main building.
The Hills Memorial Library building is recognized as a historic structure by the state and federal governments. Despite this status and a requirement to maintain it, the Hills building did not appear to have a dedicated maintenance fund or budget, although money from a capital reserve fund exists.
“Every other building in this town has a maintenance budget,” said Morin. “This is a very loved building in this town, and people would hate to see anything happen to it.”
The Library Trustees officially ended library operations at the Hills building on Sept. 1, following a vote by the Library Trustees. The unilateral decision to step away generated some criticism.
“I kind of feel like they’ve been trying to tie our hands,” said Morin. “They’ve been maintaining this building minimally for a long time now and all of the sudden, on Sept. 1, they’re not going to do it anymore.”
He called the decision “unfair,” while Dumont questioned whether the Library Trustees had the authority to step away on their own, leading to clarification that an end to library operations did not necessarily mean they would stop taking care of the property without warning.
“I’m not thinking they’re going to just walk away,” said Selectman Bob Guessferd. “We’re here to discuss what happens next and in the meantime, the building will be maintained.”
He noted that with a capital reserve fund available, around $30,000 was available for the Hills building in case of an emergency.
“We’re definitely not going to just shut the door and not do anything at all,” promised Bohrer.
“Hopefully, in the next couple meetings over the next month, we can all work together to figure all of this out,” said Guessferd.
No immediate action was taken as the Board of Selectmen agreed to talk with the School Board and gather more information on the situation.
