Library Loses Election

Voters soundly rejected the library’s proposal to tax Ithaca City School District property owners for supplemental support of the library on February 7, 2006. 3,091 or 65% voted no, 1,679 or 35% voted yes. Voter turnout was high with 17% of registered voters voting.

The most immediate impact is that after Sunday, February 12, we will be closed on Sundays for the foreseeable future.

I would first like to thank all who took the time to vote. You cared about the issue and we appreciate that.

I would also like to thank Lee Miller for his work as the Chair of the Citizens Committee for a Better Funded Library. Since 2002 Lee has been at the forefront of studying the possibilities for a public vote on our budget. He and his volunteer team were dedicated and committed to our cause.

Finally, thanks to all of you who supported this effort. This is a disappointing turn of events, and the impact of a negative vote has long term implications for the library. But the library is resilient and we will survive this vote. Today we will do what we have always done—provide the best library service possible to our community.

Janet Steiner
Library Director