Kentucky Officials Reject Plan
to Build First Library in Rural County
Magistrates in Carter County, Kentucky, voted unanimously in November against a six-cent property-tax increase to build the county’s first library, an increase that would have cost the average resident $30 a year, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported November 20.
Residents pay enough taxes already, said magistrate Carlos Wells, and they’ve done as well without a library as people in nearby counties have with one. He said 51% of county residents over age 25 had graduated from high school, a higher percentage than three nearby counties. “I’m not anti-libraries,” he said. “After several weeks of study, I didn’t find facts that we needed a public library.”
According to the Herald-Leader, half the county’s working-age population is illiterate or has minimal reading skills, and the unemployment rate is nearly 10%. Mindy Woods, a resident who collected over 2,000 signatures supporting the measure, said of the magistrates’ decision, “It was pretty unbelievable. Their attitude was, ‘We’ve made up our minds. Don’t confuse us with the facts.’”
Library supporters are considering filing suit to reverse the vote.
Posted November 27, 2000.
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