The Meaning of "Free"

You probably have noticed that our Library is officially The Pleasant Valley Free Library.  I suspect that most patrons assume that the word "Free" in the name is because all Library services are free to the user (unless rules are violated and a fine must be paid). Perhaps that is correct.  Of course, although Library services are free, books, building, and staff must be paid for somehow, and for the most part in Pleasant Valley that is accomplished by Town taxes, so in that sense Library services are not Free after all--although they are very low cost when spread among the Town taxpayers.

However, I notice that in many official documents, the Library in Pleasant Valley is called a "free association" library, and I have always thought that the word "Free" in our name comes from that.  I tried looking up this idea using Google, but struck out.  It turns out that some places call our kind of library a "free association library," while others just say "association library."

There are several kinds of library chartered by New York State.  Most of the smaller libraries are "free association" or "association" libraries--two names for the same kind of library.  These libraries are formed by an association of local residents who form the first Board of Trustees.  I suspected that it was a "free association" because the original Trustees and, as we shall see, subsequent ones choose to associate with each other to operate and maintain the library.  In general, association libraries are supported by the Town in which they are formed. Until recently this was a "free association," too, because the Town was not required to support its library.  Since 1995, however, New York association libraries have had the ability to go directly to voters and, if the voters approve, use Town taxes that go directly to the library without the approval or consent of the Town Board; so for these libraries the association between the Town and the library is no longer free. Pleasant Valley voters have twice approved this form of tax support.  Sometimes, as is also true of other libraries, our Library still receives some freely donated funds from the Town as well, especially when Library funds are running low.

One quirk of the free-association library system is that the original trustees put up or raise the money, and often the building and books, to start the library.  Those trustees then elect their successor boards, so that the board continues even when the original trustees drop out.  As a result, if anyone could be identified as the "owner" of the library, it would be the Board of Trustees, even though the support for the Library comes from town taxes.  Throughout New York State this odd system has worked for centuries--Pleasant Valley Free Library was founded in 1903 and chartered soon after.  

So when you notice the word "Free" in our Library's name, there is more behind it than one might suspect.