Tuesday, March 25, 2008 8:54 PM CDT
Expanding library district will allow for continuation of service
By LAURA HUDDLESTON, Mattoon Public Library
Maybe you read the Journal Gazette article last month describing the desire of the Mattoon Public Library Board of Trustees to pursue a district referendum for the library. Maybe you didn’t see the article but you’ve heard some talk about this around town and you wonder exactly what it means.
Well, like nice parks and safe roads, libraries in Illinois are funded by property taxes. If you own property within the Mattoon city limits, you pay a library tax through your property taxes and this entitles you to a “free” library card. If you live out of the city limits, in an outlying township for instance, you do not pay taxes to the library and that requires us by law to charge you a non-resident fee every year for your family’s library card. We don’t like the way this works, but it is the law in Illinois and we are bound to it.
We are blessed in Mattoon to have a beautiful 105-year-old Carnegie Library building. We have lots of space to hold programs for children and families, we have a computer lab open to the public, we have a growing collection of great books and DVDs and we provide access to the entire catalog of the Lincoln Trail Library System.
We are proud of what our library offers to Mattoon and we hope that our patrons are, too. But the library has expenses beyond what our current tax base can provide. Keeping the building open this past year alone has required new carpet and new boilers.
And that is on top of the regular expenses of utilities that have gone up here like everyone else’s. More repairs to the building are looming.
We do not want to have to cut back our operating hours to save on utility costs, but we are facing that type of cut and more if we don’t get a larger tax base to keep the building open.
Passing a district referendum to take in surrounding townships would be a win-win situation for the library and for those who live outside of the city limits. They would no longer be considered “non-residents” and would be eligible for a “free” library card like those within the city. The library would be able to grow and flourish to serve the community in more ways than we currently have the funds to support.
The taxes of those within the city would not be affected, but our tax base would grow to take in more territory. In short, “going district” is the only way that the library CAN maintain our current level of service to the public. It’s the only way that we can increase programming and continue to grow our collection.
As our circulation has doubled in the last five years and we have also become one of the top five lending libraries in the Lincoln Trail Library System, it is clear that our library is an extremely valuable resource in the community.
In 2007 alone, we hosted more than 100 storytimes, field trips, special programs and parties for children and families. More than 50 adults participated last year in the introductory computer courses that we hold every month.
And if you’ve read this far, I’m hoping it means you are someone who supports our library and knows how much we care about Mattoon. As you hear more about this in the coming months, please help us spread the word about the great things the library does in our community.
The Illinois Library Association says, “Libraries are a legacy to each generation, offering the heritage of the past and the promise for the future.” The Mattoon Public Library strives to provide this legacy to everyone in our community.
Please help us educate others about how Mattoon and the surrounding areas can maintain the library’s viability for our children’s and grandchildren’s futures!
Laura Huddleston is a children’s librarian at the Mattoon Public Library.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
