Supporters of the Sultan Library were relieved when residents Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to tax themselves rather than give up the town library.
"The Friends of the Library are in great relief and so happy with the community. It's another example of how this community comes together," said library director Jackie Personeus. "Sultan citizens consider their library a critical resource and they have come through and shown it."
Facing tough economic times, the city voted last fall to stop paying the Sno-Isle Library District about $92,000 per year to maintain the Sultan Library. If the residents wanted to keep the library, they would have to pay for it themselves. So Tuesday, March 11, residents voted whether to accept a new property tax of 31.3 cents per $1,000 of property value to keep the library. That means that the owner of a $200,000 home will pay approximately $63 per year for library services.
Of the 788 people that voted, 647, or 82.11%, supported the new tax. Area residents living outside the city limits already pay that tax. Had the measure failed, the library would have closed effective Jan. 1, 2009. And because Sultan residents would not be paying the library district for services, they wouldn't have been allowed to use other libraries, either. One other town in the Sno-Isle district currently does not get library service.
Personeus believes that Sultan residents gave the library such overwhelming support because they recognize the library as a valuable resource. "There are so many kids and families here that wonder what they would do without a library," she said. "What the library saw was the city's commitment to support the library."
Without paying the library, the city will free up some badly needed funds as well, said City Administrator Deb Knight. "It cost close to $100,000 per year once everything was paid for," she said. "I think it puts some flexibility into next year's budget."That money may be used for streets, she suggested, saying that the city will discuss ways to use the extra funds during next year's budget cycle.
The City of Sultan is still giving support to the library, she noted, by providing it building space free of charge. The library occupies space in the city hall building, but doesn't pay for it.
Use of the libaray has soared in recent months, said Personeus. "I had to do a double take when I looked at the numbers," she said. "Three times last week more than 480 people came through the door in a day."
Of the roughly 4,500 residents of Sultan, 4,207 have library cards, she said.
And now that the city has passed the ballot to keep the library, it appears that library will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2010. "Now we have long-term, stable funding," Personeus said. She said that she hopes to have a community celebration of the centennial birthday of the library, which was begun as a collection of about 40 books on the shelves of Atwood's Drug Store in 1910. "I envision some kind of huge party and lots of programs leading up to it," she said.
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