All registered voters in the City of Kingston are encouraged to participate in the 2022 Kingston Library Trustee election and tax levy vote on Tuesday, September 20th. The ballot will have three parts.                                                     

 

1. Voters will be asked to elect members to the Kingston Library Board of Trustees. Three trustees will be elected for three-year terms, two trustees will be elected to one-year terms, and one trustee will be elected to a two-year term, with the candidates receiving the highest number of votes cast in their favor receiving the longest terms, the candidate receiving the next-highest number of votes cast in their favor receiving the second-longest term, and so on until all six vacant seats are filled.

Candidates who have submitted petitions to be placed on the ballot for election to fill the Trustee vacancies are: Laura Brown, Andrea Gatzke, Gerard Harrington, Ursula M. Inghem, and Lisa Lerner. These candidates have been invited to introduce themselves at the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees on Thursday, September 15th at 6:30pm.  See candidate bios below.

 

2. Voters will also be asked to decide whether the sum of $1,034,585 shall be raised by annual levy of a tax upon the taxable real property within the City of Kingston for the purpose of funding the 2023 operating budget of the Kington Library. Details of the Board approved 2023 budget may be requested by emailing Kingston Library Executive Director, Margie Menard, at director@kingstonlibrary.org.

 

3. Lastly, voters will be asked to vote on a $14m bond issue to fund the final phase of a master plan to finance renovations and upgrades to the library building at 55 Franklin Street.

Kingston Library has been working on a major renovation plan for the last 10 years. Residents, business owners, and civic leaders were interviewed in 2013 and again in 2018 to hear what the community wanted from their library. The library board listened to your input and created a master plan to give Kingston residents the outstanding library they deserve.

This plan included the recent renovations to the Children’s and Teen rooms and improvements to the outdoor spaces. Funding the remaining renovations through a bond is the most cost-effective option for completing the library project master plan.  Find complete renovation details here.

Can’t make the election in person? Stop by the library for an absentee ballot before September 20.

Running for the six open seats are Laura Brown, Andrea Gatzke, Gerard Harrington, Ursula M. Inghem, and Lisa Lerner.

Laura Brown is a university professor living and working in New York, and has resided in the Hudson Valley since 2020. As a life-long lover of libraries, she is enthusiastic about contributing to the Kingston community, and ensuring that the library’s purpose and objectives are fulfilled. Laura lives in the Rondout area with her partner and their Boston Terrier.

Andrea Gatzke moved to Kingston in 2013 to take a job at SUNY New Paltz, where she is now an Associate Professor of History, specializing in the ancient Mediterranean. She is also a co-owner of World’s End Comics, though during the school year she is a largely silent partner. Andrea is a life-long lover of reading in all forms and believes that libraries have a unique opportunity and obligation to serve their communities and provide free access to information and stories. As a parent of a young child, she also sees the library as a place of discovery and magic. She loves her Kingston community deeply and is excited to get more involved in helping the library serve it.

Gerard (Gerry) Harrington cares deeply about living in our great city.
He is proud to volunteer as a Kingston Library trustee. In this role, he helps the library
inspire lifelong learning and expand knowledge. He also does his part to help the library strengthen the community.
Other volunteer roles: He was on the Live Well Kingston Commission. He was also on
the Ulster Performing Arts Center board of directors. Gerry runs the monthly Movies With Spirit community film series. He started it in 2006.
Gerry has lived in Kingston since 1987. He has been a Kingston Library patron since
1984.

Ursula M. Inghem has served on the Board since 2009 and is the current President.  Ursula says “I have been involved with libraries since I was a small child. Patron, volunteer, staff, and Board member. A library has always been part of my life.”  She also enjoys making seed bead projects and has been a certified Reiki master for nearly 10 years.

Lisa Lerner I love libraries. In no small part because reading, writing, and talking
about stories is my life. I am the author of the YA crossover novel Just Like Beauty
(NYT notable book of the year and in development as a movie produced by Lars Von
Trier and Patriot Pictures). For over 20 years, I’ve been writing children’s books and
language arts curriculum for educational publishers such as Scholastic, Fountas and
Pinnell, and IXL. Recently I wrote the first 8 chapters of a science fiction graphic novel
Keepers of the Librarium for McGraw Hill. (Fortunately for the kids, I did not
draw any of it!) I also teach creative writing to kids, and to adults who want to write for
kids, both privately and through The Writers Grotto, a writers collective based in San
Francisco. I am also a member of the Author’s Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.