No St. Charles library vote in April

The St. Charles library expansion will come before voters again, but not in April.

The library board decided, at a special meeting this week, that the economy won't have improved enough by then to persuade voters to open their pocketbooks to fix up and add on to the library, board president Victoria Haines said Friday.

But, “We definitely will go back to referendum and we will go back with the same building footprint,” Haines said.

The voters in November rejected a plan to borrow $35 million for expansion, and a request to raise the operating tax rate.

“We haven't set a date,” she said. “In the meantime, we'll continue to wage an information campaign with the residents so they understand why this is so necessary.”

Opponents, in letters to the editor of newspapers and online comments on stories, criticized the board for considering increasing spending during these troubled economic times. The library could make do with what it has, some said.

“The library is not ‘just fine,' ” countered Haines. She said space is needed particularly in the staff workrooms where materials are prepared for circulation.

The increasing use of e-readers such as Kindles, and other technological advances, won't help as much in freeing up space as some people think, according to Haines. Those devices require users to purchase the titles they want to read.

“Everybody can't afford all of the latest technology all of the time,” she said.