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MONDAY Q&A: Foundation head would fund Blairsville Library forever
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| Joe Serwinski |
EDITOR'S NOTE: Joe Serwinski, president of the Blairsville Library Foundation, was in Gettysburg
Question: How was your Christmas?
Answer: Great!
Question: Did you get everything you wanted?
Answer: My wants are very limited.
Question: Did you get any books for Christmas?
Answer: No, I didn't, but the one I'm reading now is ``Warren Buffett,'' a biography. It's quite a thick one.
Question: What kind of reading do you enjoy?
Answer: Anything that is nonfiction. I'm not a fiction reader. I like factual.
Question: Then romance novels are out?
Answer: Oh yeah.
Question: Do you read a lot, or just when the spirit moves you?
Answer: Yes to the latter. I have a lot of other activities.
Question: What would those be?
Answer: Well, I'm still building. You questioned earlier if I was still doing low-income housing. I never did low-income housing. My projects actually are with theBlairsville Industrial Park
The one I'm working on right now is senior housing. I own the biggest piece of property in Blairsville. As you come into Blairsville fromIndiana
Question: Are you still in the construction end, or are you ...
Answer: I seldom do anything in construction. I'm still with the Serell Co. We do about one or two senior houses a year. I only work in the summertime.
Question: You're the president of the Blairsville Library Foundation. How did you come to get involved in that?
Answer: It's simple. I moved to Blairsville in 1958. I took a job teaching shop at Blairsville and we started raising a family. They had a library in an old house there and it wasn't very functional.
I spent time talking with the school librarian about building a modern library, but she didn't think that it was possible. But being as stubborn as I am, I started drawing plans. So I drew plans for the library and presented it to the library board and they just thought they couldn't afford it.
So I told them we would meet with this gentleman who would help us get some money. I didn't know him personally, but I knew he helped build a church in Blairsville. So we went down to see him one evening. He met us - I was only 28 years old at the time - and he thought maybe that I wasn't quite dry behind the ears yet. So it was somewhat of an adversarial meeting for the first 25 minutes, and after he found out that I was serious he came on board.
He became head of the finance drive and I was on the construction detail. I got a PE (professional engineer) to sign my plan so I could get it through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
We put the library out for bids and the bids came in high. So we asked the library board if they would remove the books from the library and give us a year and we would build them a new library. ... So, at the end of a year's time, we gave them a free library building and $25,000 that was left over from our fundraising.
So I remained on the board for years, but when it came close to my retirement, I gave up my boards, but I remained a member of the library association.
Later I found out that the nut that was a gift was depleting because of constraints in state funding. So I wasn't in a position any more to tell them (the board) how to spend their money, but I thought that maybe in my own time I could set this foundation up and we could be very specific with the rules, regulations and bylaws. We asked them if they would draw up a foundation, the purpose of which would be to fund the library into perpetuity.
Question: So the foundation is a separate entity from the library board?
Answer: Because of the IRS, the foundation has to be a part of the library board because we can only spend our funds on the library.
So the way it's structured is the only money that can be spent from the foundation to the library is the interest and dividends. The nut can never be touched. It would take a court order from any future board to spend any of the nut.
Question: The ``nut'' being ...
Answer: The nut, in financial terms, is the principle. So the principle can never be touched. So that's how this foundation works.
I have two concerns about libraries. One is the philosophy of a community library, and the other issue I have is fallacies of government funding.
A library should reflect the cultural identity of the community and it should be free from external constraints.
All the libraries inIndiana County Pennsylvania
The problem I find with some libraries is that you can't have government funding of libraries without strings attached. When you do that, you kind of lose your community identity.
I don't think that government should have control over a library because it doesn't lend well to our Constitution.
I recently attended a meeting where I got the Pennsylvania Meritorious Award in Gettysburg and they were wringing their hands at my table about how they can go on with government funding and how can we get more government funding.
I tried to explain to them that they were wasting a lot of their energy, because with present-day economics, how can you compete with funding for health care and infrastructure improvements? Be realistic. Libraries are not high priority in these economic times. So the only thing to do is to direct your energies, as we are, to community support and building funds that can only be used for that purpose. I was in a minority at our table inGettysburg
Question: It makes sense. If two people come to your door with their hands out and one is seeking funds to find a cure for cancer and the other wants funding for the local library, the choice is easy.
Answers: The cultural organizations, they're necessary, but your life doesn't depend on it. They'll make your life better, but you'll live.
Question: What, exactly, is your position with the library?
Answer: I am president of the Blairsville Library Foundation, but the foundation has nothing to do with the operations of the library. We cannot tell the board how to spend their money. Our goal is very straightforward and limited to funding into perpetuity.
Question: Then it can be done?
Answer: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, Absolutely. Absolutely.
JOE SERWINSKI, at a glance...
Age: 72
Occupation: Retired. Taught shop at Blairsville for 22 years and was plant manager atClark Metal Products
Family: Wife, Mary Ann; daughters, Joann and Diane; sons, Edmund and Vincent
Where I grew up: Scottdale
Hobbies: Woodworking
Favorite food: Home-cooking
Food I refuse to eat: Raw fish
Favorite movie: ``Magnificent Obsession''
Last book I read: ``Last Lecture'' by Randy Pausch
Favorite way to spend a day: With family on vacation
Pet peeve: People who can't ``walk their talk''
Life goal: Fund the Blairsville Library into perpetuity
People who most inspired me: My wife and parents
Something that most people don't know about me: I lost a Scottdale Public Library book when I was 10.
NEXT WEEK: Mary Lou McKinney, director of the Indi-Anna chapter of the Sweet Adelines.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Do you know someone who would be a great subject for the Monday Q&A? If so, please call Jason Levan at (724) 465-5555, ext. 270.
Question: How was your Christmas?
Answer: Great!
Question: Did you get everything you wanted?
Answer: My wants are very limited.
Question: Did you get any books for Christmas?
Answer: No, I didn't, but the one I'm reading now is ``Warren Buffett,'' a biography. It's quite a thick one.
Question: What kind of reading do you enjoy?
Answer: Anything that is nonfiction. I'm not a fiction reader. I like factual.
Question: Then romance novels are out?
Question: Do you read a lot, or just when the spirit moves you?
Answer: Yes to the latter. I have a lot of other activities.
Question: What would those be?
Answer: Well, I'm still building. You questioned earlier if I was still doing low-income housing. I never did low-income housing. My projects actually are with the
The one I'm working on right now is senior housing. I own the biggest piece of property in Blairsville. As you come into Blairsville from
Question: Are you still in the construction end, or are you ...
Answer: I seldom do anything in construction. I'm still with the Serell Co. We do about one or two senior houses a year. I only work in the summertime.
Question: You're the president of the Blairsville Library Foundation. How did you come to get involved in that?
Answer: It's simple. I moved to Blairsville in 1958. I took a job teaching shop at Blairsville and we started raising a family. They had a library in an old house there and it wasn't very functional.
I spent time talking with the school librarian about building a modern library, but she didn't think that it was possible. But being as stubborn as I am, I started drawing plans. So I drew plans for the library and presented it to the library board and they just thought they couldn't afford it.
So I told them we would meet with this gentleman who would help us get some money. I didn't know him personally, but I knew he helped build a church in Blairsville. So we went down to see him one evening. He met us - I was only 28 years old at the time - and he thought maybe that I wasn't quite dry behind the ears yet. So it was somewhat of an adversarial meeting for the first 25 minutes, and after he found out that I was serious he came on board.
He became head of the finance drive and I was on the construction detail. I got a PE (professional engineer) to sign my plan so I could get it through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
We put the library out for bids and the bids came in high. So we asked the library board if they would remove the books from the library and give us a year and we would build them a new library. ... So, at the end of a year's time, we gave them a free library building and $25,000 that was left over from our fundraising.
So I remained on the board for years, but when it came close to my retirement, I gave up my boards, but I remained a member of the library association.
Later I found out that the nut that was a gift was depleting because of constraints in state funding. So I wasn't in a position any more to tell them (the board) how to spend their money, but I thought that maybe in my own time I could set this foundation up and we could be very specific with the rules, regulations and bylaws. We asked them if they would draw up a foundation, the purpose of which would be to fund the library into perpetuity.
Question: So the foundation is a separate entity from the library board?
Answer: Because of the IRS, the foundation has to be a part of the library board because we can only spend our funds on the library.
So the way it's structured is the only money that can be spent from the foundation to the library is the interest and dividends. The nut can never be touched. It would take a court order from any future board to spend any of the nut.
Question: The ``nut'' being ...
Answer: The nut, in financial terms, is the principle. So the principle can never be touched. So that's how this foundation works.
I have two concerns about libraries. One is the philosophy of a community library, and the other issue I have is fallacies of government funding.
A library should reflect the cultural identity of the community and it should be free from external constraints.
All the libraries in
The problem I find with some libraries is that you can't have government funding of libraries without strings attached. When you do that, you kind of lose your community identity.
I don't think that government should have control over a library because it doesn't lend well to our Constitution.
I recently attended a meeting where I got the Pennsylvania Meritorious Award in Gettysburg and they were wringing their hands at my table about how they can go on with government funding and how can we get more government funding.
I tried to explain to them that they were wasting a lot of their energy, because with present-day economics, how can you compete with funding for health care and infrastructure improvements? Be realistic. Libraries are not high priority in these economic times. So the only thing to do is to direct your energies, as we are, to community support and building funds that can only be used for that purpose. I was in a minority at our table in
Question: It makes sense. If two people come to your door with their hands out and one is seeking funds to find a cure for cancer and the other wants funding for the local library, the choice is easy.
Answers: The cultural organizations, they're necessary, but your life doesn't depend on it. They'll make your life better, but you'll live.
Question: What, exactly, is your position with the library?
Answer: I am president of the Blairsville Library Foundation, but the foundation has nothing to do with the operations of the library. We cannot tell the board how to spend their money. Our goal is very straightforward and limited to funding into perpetuity.
Question: Then it can be done?
Answer: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, Absolutely. Absolutely.
JOE SERWINSKI, at a glance...
Age: 72
Occupation: Retired. Taught shop at Blairsville for 22 years and was plant manager at
Family: Wife, Mary Ann; daughters, Joann and Diane; sons, Edmund and Vincent
Where I grew up: Scottdale
Hobbies: Woodworking
Favorite food: Home-cooking
Food I refuse to eat: Raw fish
Favorite movie: ``Magnificent Obsession''
Last book I read: ``Last Lecture'' by Randy Pausch
Favorite way to spend a day: With family on vacation
Pet peeve: People who can't ``walk their talk''
Life goal: Fund the Blairsville Library into perpetuity
People who most inspired me: My wife and parents
Something that most people don't know about me: I lost a Scottdale Public Library book when I was 10.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Do you know someone who would be a great subject for the Monday Q&A? If so, please call Jason Levan at (724) 465-5555, ext. 270.
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