Lib Politics Rodeo September 16, 2014

Welcome to the Lib Politics Rodeo.

Every Tuesday we will round up the previous week’s news on library politics and highlight some of the things that we are following or reading. Here’s what we have in our lassos this week…

News

Residents in Altadena (CA) will vote on a library district tax renewal in November. Measure A will provide $735,000 to the library. Without it, the branch library will close and the main library would need to reduce its hours to four days per week. The Alliance to Save Our Altadena Libraries has organized in support of the measure and held a rally this week to increase awareness.

The Falmouth (ME) Town Council has unanimously approved a bond measure for the November 4th ballot. The property tax is expected to bring in $2.8 million to renovate and expand the library. The other half of the funds needed will be raised in a capital campaign. The renovations include many structural updates as well as a switch to natural gas.

Following our story on August 12, the James River Valley Library System in Stutsman County (ND) has turned in a petition to get a measure on the ballot for November. This will go toward the renovation and expansion of the Alfred Dicky Library. The $9 million project will incorporate two additional buildings for a total of 16,000 square feet with the original library built in 1919.

Port Townsend (WA) is working on two measures for a possible February 2015 ballot. One of which will include renovations to the existing library. The library would be included with other facilities in an allocation of $700,000. Among the plans are energy retrofit measures. The completed ballot language will be due in the auditor’s office in December. A bond measure to renovate and expand the Library was defeated in August of 2013.

Our Tatas for Libraries fundraiser in Portland, OR on 9/20 is just around the corner. Join us for burlesque, drag, comedy, music, and more. 100% of ticket sales will go back in to our work. We have 6 campaigns left for 2014 and are hoping to increase our activity in 2015, but we cant do that without you! Get your tickets today.

Erica Findley, EveryLibrary Board member, will be at the Portland LibraryJournal’s “Lead the Change" event today, September 12. Anyone is welcome to join us for the meet-up afterward. Come hang out and talk about what we learned or stop by to learn more about EveryLibrary. Hope to see you there!