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Good News for Many Libraries in 2004 ElectionsAlthough there were some dramatic failures and near misses, voters in many communities throughout the United States showed strong support November 2 and the rest of the year for local library budget increases and building projects.Two notable successes were in Stark County, Ohio, and Fargo, North Dakota. The Stark County District Library in Canton won its bid to pass a one-mill tax levy, after earlier measures failed in March 2004 and November 2003. Failure this time would have required the library to close at least two branches, lay off as many as 50 employees, drastically reduce public-service hours, and drop two of its four bookmobiles. The tax, passed by a 57% vote, will generate $4.7 million annually for five years, allowing the library to return services to a level it could not provide after state funding was cut by $800,000 in 2001. SCDL Board President Shawn O'Brien said in the November 4 Canton Repository that voters will expect more from the library and “we have to show them that we made the right move.” Library volunteers and staff were strongly committed to the campaign to help the levy succeed, he said, adding that the district spent $70,000 in advertising. Fargo residents approved by 62% an increase in the city sales tax from 6.0% to 6.5% for 18 months in support of two major library projects. About $9 million of the projected $12 million in revenues will go toward a new, 45,000-square-foot downtown library, while the remaining $3 million will help expand the Southpointe branch, which opened in a strip mall in 2002. Officials are looking at a former middle school as a potential location for a new 22,000-square-foot facility. For an account of the library's efforts to get out the vote, see Grassroots Report in the January 2005 issue of American Libraries. American Libraries' state-by-state roundup of library referenda and other local ballot measures throughout the year is based on reports from online news sources and state library agencies. Read the full report online at www.ala.org/ala/alonline/selectedarticles/referenda04.htm or in the January issue. Posted December 9, 2004. |
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