Thursday, January 22, 2009

Telephone Town Hall Poll: 62% Support for April 2009 Ballot

2,543 residents connected to our telephone town hall meeting last night! Thank you so much for participating. The Board of Trustees and I appreciate and value your feedback in this planning process.

435 people responded to the poll question: “Do you support or oppose putting the Library expansion plan referendum on the April 2009 ballot?”

268 people (62% of those responding) support placing the Library expansion referendum on the April 2009 ballot.

That response is consistent with December poll results, from a random sample poll of registered voters in the district, of 68% support with a margin of error of +/- 4%.

Thank you to Eve, who was unable to ask her question on the telephone town hall, but who left me a message with her question: "What is the urgency? Why can't we wait?"

The urgency is the demand for service by our community. Wait lists for books and programs are the norm, not the exception. The wait time increases each month as demand increases. The surge in public library use during recessions is well-documented (the NBC Nightly News segment on this was posted here 12/11/08).

The Library's population is 264% over the population this building was built to serve. Double digit increases, in circulation, cardholders, attendance and more, occur annually. This well-used public building will be 20 years old before any expansion would open. It will be 18-24 months from the day the Library breaks ground until a new library opens. It will be a full year from the day of the election until the increase appears on property tax bills, should the referendum pass.

No comments: