by Tony Gray
posted 31 December 2021

WHITEHALL, NY --- Book-buying bucks began building November due to more than a year of lobbying by Superintendent of Schools Patrick Dee.

Flooding and sewage backup destroyed all the books in Whitehall Central School District's High School library in August 2020. District administrators assumed the school's insurer would cover replacement costs that would include new library books.

The district left no page unturned in their quest for full damage coverage under the $32 million policy carried by New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal. Their insurer begrudgingly paid $1.5 million, arguing the majority of school damage occurred from flooding, which was not covered in the policy. The district has retained outside counsel to litigate the matter.

In the meantime, the library had no books and lost the person filling in for the librarian. Then, COVID-19 social distancing requirements convinced administrators to use the library for instructional purposes in 2020 and 2021.

A new chapter has been written with recent announcements of funds being given to Whitehall for buying replacement library books.

During November's Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Dee told trustees that Education Commissioner Betty Rosa had given some money and pointed out resources to contact for more.

"As she has done with other educational organizations in the past, Commissioner Rosa plans to donate a $2,000 honorarium she will receive from the National Association for Bilingual Education to the Whitehall Central School District next month so it can purchase books to help restore the school's library," said spokeswoman Emily DeSantis. "Commissioner Rosa was impressed by the dedication and resilience of the students, faculty, and staff at the district and hopes this donation will spur others to contribute to the library's restoration as well."

Dee said, in November's meeting, that Commissioner Rosa had put him in touch with the NYS Library Association and the Capital District Library Council to help fund the remainder of the high school's library book needs.

NYLA and the Library Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the holiday week between Christmas and New Year's Day but no announcements have been made about donations from them.

An announcement of a generous grant was announced at the beginning of December's BOE meeting, though, when Dee informed trustees about being awarded a grant applied for after November's meeting.

Dollar General Literacy Foundation's "Beyond Words" program provides disaster relief for public school libraries in communities served by their stores that have been damaged by natural disasters, like last year's flooding.

"I'm pleased to announce they gave us their largest grant, which was $20,000 and it will help defer a little bit of that cost," Dee said. The foundation's grant will be awarded at a ceremony scheduled to be conducted in January 2022.

"So, a big thanks goes out to Beyond Words," said Dee.