Lib Politics Rodeo September 23, 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…

It's the first day of fall and we're hard at work learning about all of the November library ballot measures. On November 4 Crockery Township residents will vote on a measure to include their township in the Spring Lake District Library millage. Crockery residents are being asked to pay a lower millage than the residents of Spring Lake, but Library Director Claire Sheridan is excited for the new revenue I'm very excited about this opportunity for Crockery Township residents,” she said. “I think no community should be without library services, especially for as long as Crockery Township residents have been without it. The millage is expected to generate another $50,000 per year for the library.

Mecklenburg County Libraries (NC) stand to benefit from a sales tax referendum on the ballot this November 5. The referendum will increase the sales tax from 7.25% to 7.5%. Five percent will go toward the libraries. The Libraries are in need of renovations to outdated facilities and new equipment.

The Vote Yes committee in Kanawha (WV) is continuing the campaign to vote yes this week with rallies at library branches. They will have a levy on the ballot for November 4th that would bring in 3.3 million in funding per year. This would restore funds that were cut by the school board last year. In 2013 their levy, that was attached to the school district levy, failed. Early voting begins October 22nd and we will be following the polls.

EveryLibrary is hosting a meetup after the Lead the Change session in Chesterfield Virginia today. If you will be there come by to learn more about us and discuss your takeaways from Lead the Change.

November 4th is 5 weeks away and we are hard at work with our remaining campaigns. Look for an update on our remaining 2014 work later today.

That’s all for today. Join us next week for another round up. Happy trails!