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Voters Approve Austin Library Measure, Reject Oakland BondOn election day November 7, voters in Austin, Texas, approved a new 250,000-square-foot Central Library, while Oakland, California, residents rejected a measure to turn a vacant convention center into a new main library.The $90-million Austin library package, which won a 60% majority, was one of seven propositions before the city’s voters, all of which passed. The new facility will include more books, programming and exhibit space, and increased parking and accessibility. Supporters said the existing John Henry Faulk Central Library has run out of space to shelve and process new materials, hindering distribution of books to branches. Proposition 6 supporter Dave Shaw told the November 8 Austin American-Statesman that the library proposition “was never just about a new building. It’s about enhancing the entire library system and the branches.” Although Measure N, a $148-million bond to pay to move Oakland’s main library to the closed Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, construct two new branches, and expand the other 18 branches, received 63.5% of the vote, it required a two-thirds majority. Oakland Public Library Director Carmen Martinez said in the November 9 San Jose Mercury News that she was “numb” after the defeat, but vowed to continue efforts to upgrade branches through fundraising and to build a new branch on 81st Avenue. “We learned wonderful lessons,” said Martinez. “We had a bold vision to build a library in a beautiful building but folks wanted that money to go to the neighborhoods. We know our community better.” The two measures were among dozens of library-related ballot issues up for consideration this year. A state-by-state roundup of library referenda and other local ballot measures throughout the year will appear next week on American Libraries Online and in the December American Libraries. Posted November 10, 2006. |
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