G.M.E. Despite dreary fiscal times for state governments, voters in many districts came out November 4 in favor of tax measures to support their local libraries. Aided by numerous volunteers and Friends who got the message out through leaflets, websites, and telephone canvassing, public and school libraries did well with funding new buildings, renovations, and services. But some significant bond issues did not fare well, forcing libraries to make hard choices just to stay above water. Akron-Summit County (Ohio) Public Library officials were taken by surprise when voters rejected a 1.4-mill tax levy that would have supported library operations for the next six years. Trustees were quickly forced to decide how to handle a funding shortfall of $5.5 million, or 20% of the library's entire budget, for 2004 and possibly beyond. I'm so bloody stunned, board President James Switzer said in the November 8 Akron Beacon-Journal. I didn't expect this. We're still going around saying, ''What happened?'' At a special meeting held November 13, trustees agreed to put another measure on the March ballot. Even if it passes, the library must go a full year without an operating levy, although it could borrow against expected tax revenue to take the edge off inevitable cuts. Senior staff announced an austere list of measures December 2 to get through 2004, including: eliminating 22 mostly full-time shelvers and 60 part-time student assistants; reducing the pay of the remaining full-time staff, including that of Library Director Steve Hawk, by 6.7%; cutting hours at the main and branch libraries by 22%; doubling overdue fines; and reducing the library acquisitions budget by 10%. The last time Akron-Summit County voters rejected a library levy was 1961, when a bond issue to build a new downtown library was defeated; however, the measure passed on a second try the following year. CLOSE CALL IN COLORADO Mesa County, Colorado, library supporters were chagrined when two referenda failed by narrow margins. Referendum 5A, which lost by only 46 votes, would have provided an extra $500,000 for operating and staffing costs, while 5B, which came up about 1,000 short, would have purchased bonds for a new $15.7-million central library building in Grand Junction. It's very disappointing, said Library Director Terry Pickens. We are going to have to regroup. The problems with the building are not going to be easily solved. Pickens had been pushing for this bond measure since 1997. The current cramped and leaking library has been housed in a former grocery store for the past 30 years. Despite the fact that 102,000 patrons used the facility last year, officials will have to work harder in the future to convince residents that libraries are a good investment. As one local woman told a KJCT-TV reporter, I think libraries are becoming dinosaurs [what with] the Internet and all the electronics available to most families now. There's only a small portion of the community that makes use of the library. 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. ARKANSAS. Voters in Baxter County rejected two millage proposals in October that would have purchased and renovated a former supermarket as a home for the county library and raised support levels from 0.9 to two mills. In May, residents of Rogers approved a $2-million bond issue for the city library. CALIFORNIA. Despite support from the mayor and city attorney, voters failed to pass Measure O, a new library tax that would have helped fund San Bernardino Public Library operations for the next 10 years and paid half of the debt on a bond usedto build its main branch. The cost to a single-family residence would have been only $1.67 per month. The library's acquisitions budget dropped to zero this
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