UPDATED: Library Board to Hold Special Meeting Oct. 24
10/25 UPDATE: The library’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved a project to refinance the Branch Improvement Plan bonds at a special meeting on Oct. 24. The project involves refinancing the nine-year-old bonds, which funded the five new/renovated branch libraries, to get a better interest rate and reduce the cost to taxpayers. The library will move forward with the refinancing project and expects to close on the new bonds by the end of the year.
The Albany Public Library (APL) Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 24, to consider a project to refinance the Branch Improvement Plan (BIP) bonds. The special meeting will start at 6:00 pm at the Washington Ave. Branch (161 Washington Ave.) in the Tompkins Digital Lab on the second floor.
The goal of the refinancing project is to secure a lower interest rate on the bonds, thereby decreasing the tax levy for the BIP libraries and reducing the cost to Albany taxpayers. The 30-year, $29.1 million bonds were taken out in 2007, after voter approval, to fund the renovation of three library branches and construction of two new branches. Those libraries—Arbor Hill/West Hill, Bach, Delaware, Howe, and Pine Hills—opened between November 2009 and June 2010.
The APL Board of Trustees special meeting on Oct. 24 is open to the public, and includes public comment periods at the start and end of the meeting.
Stephanie Simon
Stephanie Simon is manager of APL's Communication and Creative Services Department, which provides content and information for the library's website, social media, publications, videos, podcasts, and other outlets. Stephanie also manages APL's public relations and marketing efforts.