Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

No millage for lilbrary, measure fails 632-274

When the votes were counted in the Oct. 22 special election to increase the millage for the Nevada County Library, the final tally was 632 against and 274 for.

The only areas the millage received a majority of the votes were in absentee and early voting. The absentee votes showed the count 26-23 favoring the millage, while the early voting numbers were 50-30 for.

Otherwise, it was a one-sided affair.

In Prescott the millage failed 296-164, while it took it on the chin 225-15 at the Nevada School District and 58-17 at Emmet.

Around 4:30 p.m., poll workers ran out of ballots at Prescott High School, with Nevada County Clerk Julie Stockton going to the other polling places to replenish the exhausted supply at PHS.

She said there were about 20 people who weren't able to vote, who also didn't return later.

Stockton also said there were ballots left at the end of the day.

The purpose of the election was to raise the millage for the library to fund its maintenance and operation.

The Friends of the Library did the work to get the issue on the ballot, including picking up the tab for the election.

Barry Barber, treasure for the group, said he was disappointed in the outcome and thinks the reason it failed is because of an anti-tax feeling.

"People don't appreciate the need for a library nowadays," he said. "I heard people say we don't need a library, and combined with people not wanting anymore taxes..."

Joyce Gibson, county librarian, also voiced disappointment in the election's outcome.

"I think both sides didn't understand or explain the issue," she said, "like it should have been. Some knew the facts, but misguided others."

Barber and Gibson agreed there is a strong anti-tax sentiment at this time, with people simply not wanting to pay any more taxes, no matter what they're for.

There were some, Barber said, who believed they were voting against the construction of the library.

"People got the idea," he said, "the only reason for the tax was the new library. The huge turnout surprised me."

Gibson's ideas were similar, as she said many of the voters were voting against people, places and things, not necessarily against the library.

Some, she said, have said the county doesn't need a library, and thought they were voting down the actual building.

Gibson was also surprised at the gap between those who were for and against the millage increase. She said she thought the Friends of the Library had people contacting residents in the outlying part of the county.

Gibson, herself, spoke with people from different parts of the county when they came to the library, and only had two who outright said they were voting against the millage.

As the millage was to be used to maintain and operate the library, the problem of how to do this remains. The current millage rate doesn't bring in enough money to operate the existing library.

Currently, Gibson is the only paid employee for the library, and has donated time in the evenings to help those needing to do research or get books.

Gibson has also worked weekends to help the community out by going to the library when called at home.

"We have no money to buy books," Barber said. "We won't have the services we'd hoped to provide, like extended hours. We're faced with a real problem."

Ironically, the Friends of the Library are doing well in their effort to raise money to furnish the new facility. The group has been working to match $75,000 donated by Jane Bemis to purchase furnishings.

The next step, both agreed, would be to approach the city and county to see if the library's budget can't be increased.

"We can ask the city for part of the sales tax," Barber said, "but I don't think we can get any more from the county  it doesn't have any."

There is also the prospect of another election to raise the millage later on, though the original concept had been to pass this tax and start collecting the money in January.

"Some don't think we need a library at all," Gibson said, "but this (current library) is unsanitary and unsafe. We need a specific area for children, technology and genealogy and we're out of room here.

"A lot of students from the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope and PHS come here to use the computers. Potlatch doesn't interview anymore and applicants have to apply on-line, and a lot of people who come to the library aren't computer literate."

Officials with the city, county and Friends of the Library, she said, will need to get together and formulate a plan to fund the library.

"We may have to go to the people again," she said. "In the meantime, we'll have to streamline some areas. I hope Amendment 3 fails, because if it passes we may not have a library."