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After a defeat by only 34 votes in May, the Lansing Community Library Center will ask the community once more whether it will fund its own library.  Library Chairwoman Marlaine Darfler asked the Board of Education to approve a vote to be held on December 11, one of only two dates that voting machines are available in the near future.  "Tonight what the Friends of the Lansing Community Library are asking the Board Of Education is for permission to hold a special election on this issue at the library."

Darfler noted that the time frame is extremely tight, and expressed her appreciation to Interim Superintendent Tom Helmer and District Clerk Jodie Rusaw for helping to move the process forward during a time when the district is facing so many challenges of its own.  "It is not a date we picked," she explained.  "It's a date the voting machines were available."
The Lansing library has been in operation entirely run by volunteers for seven years.  While chartering the library has always been part of the plan, the perception that it was meant to be a purely volunteer endeavor added to confusion that library officials hope they can clear up this time around.

	Why Pay For a Library? Currently the Lansing library is a reading room of the Tompkins County Public Library.  Lansing volunteers say that they didn't effectively get their message across last May.  Part of the confusion, they say, was that people didn't understand that the library would be independent from the school system in every way except two:  first the School Board must approve the initial vote and any subsequent vote to raise the library's tax levy.  Second, the school district collects the taxes for the library, then gives them the money. Library Chairwoman Marlaine Darfler says many people thought the proposal was for another school library, not an independent public library.  She notes that the volunteers have given a gift to the community of a beautiful facility that is entirely paid for by volunteer contributions (and some Town support.  While the Town still owns the building, Town officials say they intend to continue to support it being there.)  This time the library board hopes to clear up the confusion.  Critics of the library say they just don't want to add a new taxing authority to an already onerous tax burden.  But library volunteers counter that because the community does not have an independent library its tax dollars are going to neighboring communities when they could be coming back to Lansing.  Additionally an independent library would be eligible for money from the County, State, and Federal governments, bring still more Lansing tax money home. Here are some of the major points they will make: As a reading room of the county library the facility must pay extra for services beginning in January As a reading room Lansing Tax dollars go to support the Groton, Trumansburg, Newfield, and Dryden libraries with none of that library money staying in Lansing If chartered the Lansing Library will get local, County, State and Federal monies The 15 cents per $1,000 is less than asked for in May.  That comes to $15 per year if your house is valued at $100,000, $22.50 if you have a $150,000 house, or $30 if your house is valued at $200,000. The cost of one new hard cover book is around $30. The library averages 40 new patrons per month Volunteer can no longer handle the complexity and volume of requests from users.  Chartering will mean a professional librarian to handle those requests and manage about 50 volunteers Library officials say that as far as raising significant funds from private sources to keep the library going, the well is dry.

Darfler also reported that the library will be asking taxpayers for less money this time.  While the original budget was economical, the new one is tighter but at a rate library volunteers hope will be palatable to taxpayers.  "We were originally asking for 17 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.," she said.  "We have brought it down to 15 cents.  This money will be used for operation costs for the library, and to cover the cost of one librarian to oversee the over 50 people volunteering." 

But School Board member David Dittman challenged the idea of another vote.  ""Last Spring when the library vote came up in conjunction with the school board vote we had the largest turnout in recent times, and maybe history," Dittman said.  "The library vote was defeated.  By holding it on December 11th as a special election one would anticipate that we would probably get a smaller turnout.  Why are we continuing to vote on something which we already had the largest turnout vote down?  Do we just keep voting until it wins?"

"There were a lot of issues going on," Darfler replied.  "There was a lot of confusion about separating the library from the school.  We went back and surveyed people on why they voted no.  There was a real confusion as to what we are.  Our hope is that putting the election in the library helps people understand that it is a public library payed for by people in the school district.  A huge amount of people voted yes for the library -- it was very exciting for us."

Darfler says that not having its own public library costs taxpayers money that pours out of Lansing into the neighboring communities.  As a reading room of the county library, Lansing will have to pay more starting in January for all services.  But as an independent public library it would be eligible to claim that money.  "As a school district public library our library would be eligible every year for our own taxes, County taxes, State and Federal money that is not available to us now," Darfler explained.  "The proposition to establish LCLC as a school district public library will insure the financial future of our town library that's been serving our residents for seven years as a community center for learning."

"Since the May vote we have received notice from the Tompkins County Public Library that beginning January 1st, 2008 the financial agreement that they hold with their three reading rooms, which are Danby, Caroline, and Lansing, is going to be discontinued," Darfler explained.  "They're going to begin charging us for all the services they now provide for free.  One of the major advantages in becoming a school district public library is the return to our community of our Lansing taxes that now go to support other libraries in the county.  Each year Lansing taxes are funnelled to Groton, Trumansburg, Newfield, and Dryden.  These independent libraries receive over $25,000 per year from the county.  We do not receive any of that."

She also noted that demand for services has grown to the extent that volunteers can't realistically fill it.  "We will continue to be a volunteer staff," Darfler noted.  "We need someone to oversee that and to provide professional services, because none of us are professional librarians.  The library has become so used that we no longer know how to answer or deal with a lot of the questions that come up."

She added that if the election can not be held in December the library will have to close its doors, at least for the Winter.  If it fails again, it could close permanently.  "That's a hardship on many students and residents young and old who are depending on us for study space, computer time, reading material and year-long programming," she said.

The board voted 5-1 to permit the referendum, provided that a petition of at least 77 votes is submitted within the deadline.  Dittman voted nay.

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