Library committee asks select board to add $10,000 ballot item for expansion funding

The committee leading library planning in Middletown Springs voted to ask the town select board to place a separate $10,000 ballot article for library expansion costs after the select board cut the library allotment by about $10,000.

Chair (S2) moved the request at the special meeting and framed it as a simple ballot question to restore local expansion funds. "I make motion we ask this life board for a separate ballot item for $10,000 for library expansion costs," the chair said; the motion was seconded and approved without opposition. Committee members said the town clerk had indicated she could help with wording and that a separate warned article would allow voters to decide directly on the expansion funding.

Members discussed three possible responses to the allotment cut: remove the position from the budget, leave the position and fundraise the difference, or pursue a separate ballot article or petition. Committee speakers stressed that, if only a modest amount were raised, they'd prefer the money go to staffing rather than to furnishings. "If it raised $10,000 and only $10,000, we'd rather spend that on this a staff position than on more bookcases," one member said.

The committee agreed to draft ballot verbiage with help from the town clerk, run outreach explaining the separate article at town meeting and in the front-porch newsletter, and to coordinate with Patty and other volunteers to collect signatures or provide documentation if the select board asks for it. The motion to request the separate ballot item passed on a voice vote with members answering "aye."