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The spirit was willing, though the costumes were a tad on the conservative side as Amy Kolligian and Tony Falcone joined about 100 revelers for Tuesday night’s Mardi Gras party to raise moolah for the New Haven Free Public Library.
Kolligian glittered about the New Orleans-themed precincts of the Lawn Club wearing a sequined skull and bones design on her black stocking at the left ankle. (It wasn’t available for a photograph.)
Falcone’s more subdued necklace made a subtle contrast with the offset lithograph titled “Olde New Haeven,” which he had made and contributed, one of more than 100 items available in a silent auction. At 6:30 the bid was up to $225 for the Falcone.
Between auction and ticket sales, the library expects its 11th annual party, sponsored by the Patrons Board, to have raised approximately $40,000 to help sustain public library books and programs.
Some of those programs, such as computer and job training, are more needed than ever, as library usage is way up during recessionary times.
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According to assistant city librarian Cathy DeNigris (she’s pictured with architect/capital projects coordinator for the city, Bill MacMullen), 812,000 people visited all branches of the system in 2009, a 9 percent increase.
At the central branch visitors in to use the computers, often for job related searches or resume preparation, is way up. According to business reference librarian Seth Godfrey, the two-hour usage time per client has had to be reduced to an hour an half.
“Two people came in today from Shaw’s,” he said, referring to the market on Whalley that is slated to close in six weeks.
They told him they expected to be out of work by the end of March and wanted to be ahead of the game. Godfrey said that for entry-level sales jobs and even for jobs at McDonald’s, the application process begins online.
For people who don’t have computer access or know-how, for cover letter help, resumes, advice on good job websites, the library is often a place of first and last resort. “It’s on our part,” he said, to keep up with peoples’ needs.
To that end, the entire downstairs of the library is being renovated in a $637,000 program that will result in an enlarged computer area and with updated, swifter technology.
In addition to other features, there will be laptops, a training classroom, and an increase from the current 50 to 60 computer consoles.
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That pleased head of library programming Carol Brown, another librarian who also came perfectly costumed — as a librarian.
“See my flat shoes? My hair in a bun?” she asked.
Brown added that many of the people she deals with haven’t used a computer, and they are of all ages. In addition, she’ll be using the renovated space in part for a “Fifty Plus Center,” to help older people learn about personal finance.
Some of the proceeds of Tuesday’s Mardi Gras may be dedicated to the renovation effort, said Barbara Segaloff, the library’s development director and longtime organizer of the event.
Most of the funds will come from money set aside in the city capital budget and approximately $150,000 previously pledged by the library’s “patrons.” The work, which has already begun, thus closing off for now the downstairs of the library, is slated to be completed in the spring.
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If another $380,000 grant, through the Connecticut State Library, is approved by the State Bond Commission, the renovation will also create an glassed-in extension onto the Elm Street patio that will serve both programming and as a revenue producer as a rental location.
Library public information officer Kathie Hurley, also costumed as a librarian but with heels, said the library has been keeping up well even though the full-time workforce across all branches has dropped from about 84 five years ago to 48 today, along with 30 part-timers.
Hurley said she worries most about the loss of institutional memory when longtime staffers retire.
After Mardi Gras guests were served and the Funky Butt Jazz Band picked up the bayou beat Tuesday night, Hurley went off to have herself a modest plateful of mustard-flavored collard greens, okra, and jambalaya. “I’m optimistic,” she said.
