The Association Must Be Free

You may know that the DeWitt Community Library is a Free Association Library, but perhaps you don't know just what that means or how it was established. The DCL opened officially in April 1962, but discussions about the need for a library in DeWitt began almost two decades before that date. There was a DeWitt Community Association well established, which was a non-profit organization serving the town in various volunteer capacities; this Community Association had a separate library committee, and in the early sixties Jack Robertson -- Chair of the Library Committee -- and this group spent time gathering information from the community and gauging the level of enthusiasm for a public library.

Once they were decided on having a library, the committee then had to determine what type of library would best suit the DeWitt area. There were three possible types of we could become: 1. Town Supported, which meant the library would have to bring their budget proposals to the Town Board each July for funding; 2. School District Library, meaning the library association must gather support from the school district voters to be established; or 3. Free Association Library, which is a library that is not tied to a government group or school district, and is free to approach the members in its chartered area any time of the year for fund raising.

The library committee decided to become a Free Association, which it remains to this day. This decision has its difficulties, as the burden remains on the Association to continue fund raising if it wants to remain in business. In the minutes of the Executive Committee of the DeWitt Community Association a few years before the library opened, they explain their reasoning for this decision as follows: ". . . if we decide on a school district basis, we must 'sell' a library to enough voters that it can be passed as a separate item in the school budget at the annual meeting in July. If we decide on a free association we can gather community support at any time. . . . Since everyone is loathe to add to an already heavy school tax burden this form of support was presently rejected. Jamesville and Southwood have never displayed much interest in a library located in the center of Dewitt for geographic reasons. Since the Town Board appropriates $200 annually for support of the East Syracuse library we might be able to expect a like amount for Dewitt, but possibly not more. Therefore it was generally agreed among those present that a free association was the best and perhaps only way to start a library for Dewitt."

Once they'd decided to be a free association, the problem was how to set up a regular source of funding. They did manage to raise enough money initially to keep the library open for 3 years, which exceeded their goal, but it was necessary to establish solid methods of support money for the future of the library. The original Board of Trustees was elected from amongst the library's first contributors to the fund drive. During the twenty years prior to 1962, one of the big reasons the library was stalled was because the association couldn't find land or a building suitable to house a library. This problem was solved in 1960 when Eagan Real Estate offered the library rent-free space in their Shoppingtown property. In the official library plan, it states that "The Shoppingtown Merchants Association has offered to provide space for the library. This is equivalent to a contribution of over $4,000 per year."

And this is the story of how we became a Free Association Library. Click on the pictures below to view full-size versions of early documents, as well as a picture of Jack Robertson.