Referendum not on library's agenda

Carol Stream residents don't have to worry about hearing the dreaded "R" word from its local library for years.

Director Ann Kennedy said the library won't seek a referendum for permission to fund a new building for at least the next four years.

Instead, Kennedy said the library plans to improve its programming lineup in the coming months and focus on reaching out to under-served residents in hopes of staying relevant in the community.

"The people of Carol Stream said very clearly they do not want their taxes going up," Kennedy said. "With the economy the way it is, we can't keep going back and asking people for money. So the next thing for us to do is see what we can do with this building."

The decision, which puts the library's building plans on the backburner, comes months after a failed referendum attempt in April.

Roughly 71 percent of voters rejected a ballot measure asking for approval to build a two-story, $26 million facility along Kuhn Road. The failed referendum attempt had been the agency's third in the past three years.

Officials estimated that the proposal would have cost the owner of a $250,000 home about $110 more in property taxes.

Kennedy said the library has no plans to sell a 7.5-acre parcel of land at 480 N. Kuhn Road, which officials hope will eventually become the site of a new library campus.

The library pays roughly $7,000 a year in property taxes on the site.