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Newburgh Free Library highlights $12,000 IREX grant and pushes for ebook-licensing reform as assistant director prepares to retire
Summary
Presenter Ben Gawker told the committee the library received $12,000 from IREX and partner funders for community-building events, raised alarms about $23 million a year in statewide ebook licensing costs, and announced that assistant director Patty Sussman will retire; the library will use lessons from the grant in its strategic plan.
Newburgh Free Library presenter Ben Gawker told the Library Committee that the library received a $12,000 IREX community-building grant, supported by foundation partners, to fund meet-and-greet events for people who are new to Newburgh and long-time residents. "We received $12,000 from these foundations, to basically kinda get to know our neighbors, and to build community," Gawker said, and the committee was told the first convenings are planned for Dec. 6 and Dec. 9.
Gawker used the director's-report slot to raise broader concerns about digital-collection costs facing libraries across the state. "All libraries are spending about $23,000,000 a year just to license ebooks," he said, arguing that licensing rather than ownership forces public libraries to repeatedly pay for access. He told the committee that the New York Library Association and system directors are pursuing legislative and procurement approaches to address what he described as "unreasonable prices of ebook licensing" and noted that the local Central Library Service (CLS) spends "over $600,000" on shared digital resources.
The committee heard that small-scale alternatives exist. Gawker pointed to Digital Public Library of America initiatives and independent presses that have created ownership pathways for libraries, and he warned of the risks of perpetual licensing: "If you don't own the content, you're just licensing it, that content can be changed at any time," he said, citing a high-profile 2023 case as an example of why ownership matters to public collections.
Gawker also highlighted recent programming and exhibitions: three paintings by local artist John F. Gould are on display after an Oct. 16 opening attended by about 100 people. He said the paintings will remain on view for two years. The presenter closed his report by noting that assistant director Patty Sussman is retiring and that the library will soon post the assistant-director and an additional librarian position to fill her role.
Why it matters: Committee members said the ebook-licensing figures have real budget implications for shared collection funding and for how the library prioritizes acquisitions and strategic planning. Gawker said the data and community input from the IREX grant will inform the library's strategic plan and collection-development policy.
