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Posted July 8, 2005.

Hampden Library Closes after Override Failure

The 114-year-old Hampden (Mass.) Free Public Library closed its doors June 30 after voters failed by 209 votes to approve a May 16 Proposition 2½ override that would have included $108,000 to keep it open another year. Massachusetts Proposition 2½ stipulates that property taxes can be raised no more than 2.5% of the previous year's levy unless approved by a townwide ballot. Hampden's senior center also closed due to the override defeat, the July 6 Springfield Republican reported.

“We are closed, but we are working hard toward reopening,” Trustee Chair Beth E. Burger told a group of several hundred that rallied in front of Hampden Town House on closing day. “This has been a hard day, but we are trying to keep the tears to a minimum.” The library is housed on the top floor of the Town House.

Resident Patricia Kaiser Ehlers has started a petition drive for a special town meeting in September to raise funds for the library, a move supported by the trustees. Ehlers told the Republican that voters did not realize that a “no” vote on the lump-sum $584,796 ballot to help the town operating budget meant the library would close.

Hampden Selectmen Chairman James D. Smith said the voters had spoken and that board members do not plan to offer another override request.

Local parent Monica Tronsky said at the rally that the closing was like “losing the heart of the community. This is a place where new mothers meet each other. It is a place for the young and the old. Reading dispels loneliness.”

Posted July 8, 2005.