Appeal of KATHI GIMBRONE from action of Salamanca Public Library Trustees Susan Zaprowski, Gina Matteson, Patricia Magara, Angel Fisher, and Kari Kennedy regarding her removal as a trustee of the Salamanca Public Library Board of Trustees.

Decision No. 18,454

(July 29, 2024)

The Law Office of Stephanie Adams, PLLC, attorney for respondents, Stephanie A. Adams, Esq., of counsel

ROSA., Commissioner.--Petitioner appeals the decision of Salamanca Public Library Trustees Susan Zaprowski, Gina Matteson, Patricia Magara, Angel Fisher, and Kari Kennedy, Members of the Board of Trustees of the Salamanca Public Library (“respondents”) to remove her as a trustee of the Salamanca Public Library.  The appeal must be dismissed.    

Petitioner served as a trustee of the Salamanca Public Library Board of Trustees (“board”).  Petitioner was appointed to this role by the Salamanca mayor to replace a trustee who resigned, for a term commencing February 1, 2022 and ending on January 31, 2027.  On November 8, 2023, respondents brought a complaint against petitioner pursuant to Education Law § 226 (8), raising several allegations of alleged misconduct.  Thereafter, at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting on November 15, 2023, petitioner was removed from the board by a vote of 4-1.  This appeal ensued.  Petitioner’s request for interim relief was denied on January 3, 2024.

The appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  There are four types of public libraries under New York law:  (1) association; (2) municipal; (3) school district; and (4) special district (see N.Y. State Education Dep’t, Division of Library Development, “Public and Association Libraries: A Comparison,” available at (https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/libs/pltypes.pdf [last accessed Jul. 25, 2024]).  The Commissioner has previously held that only the third category, school district public libraries, are subject to jurisdiction under Education Law § 310 (Matter of Moore, 20 Ed Dept Rep 27, Decision No. 10,299).  As such, the Commissioner has dismissed claims against both association libraries (Appeal of Van Allen, 41 Ed Dept Rep 328 Decision No. 14,701) and special district libraries (Appeal of Iannone, et al., 32 Ed Dept Rep 635, Decision No. 12,939 [“public library district”]; Appeal of Moore, 20 id. 27, Decision No. 10,299 [“special district closely controlled by the town board”]). 

Respondent is a municipal library whose budget is not established through a public vote.[1]  As such, it lacks any connection to a school district, the predicate for jurisdiction under Education Law § 310 (compare Appeal of the Bd. of Trustees of the New Rochelle Public Library, 42 Ed Dept Rep 213, Decision No. 14,827; Matter of Moore, 20 id. 27, Decision No. 10,299).  Therefore, the appeal must be dismissed.

In light of this disposition, I need not address the parties’ remaining contentions. 

THE APPEAL IS DISMISSED.

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