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Louisville Vows to Grow Its Library Despite Ballot DefeatAn ambitious plan to fund a $200-million expansion of Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library facilities and services through a hike in the county’s occupational tax was soundly rejected by some two-thirds of voters November 6. Nonetheless, city and county officials are advancing plans to fund through other municipal channels LFPL’s master plan to renovate or rebuild the main library, refurbish or rebuild most branches, and add five additional libraries—three of which would be regional facilities. In fact, as evidenced by several members of the city council unveiling an alternate plan to fund the expansion the day before voters were scheduled to go to the polls, the master plan itself lives on. “The thing that’s come out clearest in all this is that nobody’s against the library; some people are against the tax,” Director Craig Buthod told American Libraries, noting that “during the period of all this heightened attention, the demand for library services has gone through the roof.” He pointed to record-breaking hikes in library visits and circulation as proof that “the public not only votes at the ballot box, but with their feet, and they’re telling us they want more from the library.” The one aspect of the master plan that’s now off the table is the creation of a public library district run by an independent board of trustees, which the defeated initiative would have funded by hiking the occupational tax by two-tenths of 1% on the earnings of all workers employed in LFPL’s Jefferson County service area, as well as on the net profits of all businesses located there. Tax opponents had complained to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance in October that LFPL officials were illegally using publicly funded resources such as employee time while on the job to campaign for the referendum’s passage. The state’s attorney’s office ruled that there was no violation—prompting the crafting of a bill to prohibit Metro Louisville employees from advocating for a ballot measure while on the job. One alternative funding plan would jump-start the expansion by increasing LFPL’s $16.5-million operating budget by $750,000 annually for the next two years and issuing $25 million in bonds in both 2008 and 2009. Another calls for $25 million in bonds to be issued through 2014 and annual hikes of $1.5 million to the operating budget. Whatever proposal passes, Buthod asserts that “the last thing we want to do is to build libraries we can’t operate.” Posted November 14, 2007. |
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