Voters Approve New Libraries
for Saline County
Saline County Public Library in Benton, Arkansas, will be getting two new buildings soon, thanks to a quarter-cent sales tax extension passed by voters August 22. The ballot proposal, which passed by a margin of 254 votes, extends the special tax another two years and will generate the final $3 million needed for construction of both a new main library and a new branch in Bryant.
The earlier tax, which expires in December, was approved by voters shortly after the current library, built as a theater in 1919, suffered a collapsed ceiling in July 1998 brought on by an accumulation of pigeon droppings.
Though the damage was repaired four months later, the building is still too small and outdated for current collections, Director Julie Hart told American Libraries. “The additional revenue will allow us to start building in January 2001,” she said. “We have a 4.5-acre site chosen in Benton, and a two-acre lot donated to us for a new facility in Bryant.”
Posted August 28, 2000.
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