Over numerous impassioned objections from audience members, the Saline County Quorum Court voted 10-to-2 Monday night to ask voters to reduce the Saline County Library’s millage from 1.7 mills to 1.1 mills.
If successful, the reduction would cut some $1.7 million, or about a third of its budget, from the library’s annual funding. A resident with a quarter-million-dollar house would save about $30 a year, or $2.50 a month, after the reduction. Residents will vote on the proposed reduction during the Nov. 3 general election.
About 15 people addressed the Quorum Court members before the vote, with all but one against putting the millage question to voters.
“Libraries are often described as buildings filled with books, but that definition misses the point entirely,” said Gretchen Boettcher, who, like most of her like-minded library enthusiasts, wore black T-shirts supporting the library. “A library is really a promise – a promise that knowledge, opportunity and human connections belong to everyone, not just to those who can afford them.”
Justice of the Peace Josh Curtis, the sponsor of the legislation, has rationalized the cut by saying the county’s population has grown sufficiently over the years to make up for the change in millage.
The measure sailed through a committee meeting last month without dissent. But two justice of the peace peeled off from the others on Monday, saying they had gotten numerous calls from constituents who asked them to vote against the proposed ordinance.
Justice of the Peace Clint Chism said he felt that it was his duty to stand up for those in his district.
“I grew up in the library, and my grandchildren have as well,” he said. “Most of the calls I got were against this, so I’m voting that way.”
Justice of the Peace Pat Bisbee said his callers were against it as well, adding that his district included East End, where residents were happy to have a new library branch.
“‘Why are y’all even considering this?’ That’s what people were asking me,” Bisbee said.
One supporter said the county’s estimate of growth of 6.9% a year was incorrectly figured because it included the exaggerated period around Covid.
“Our growth rate is closer to 4.6%, and if the millage drops from 1.7 mills to 1.1, the library will lose tens of millions of dollars in funding over the next 10 years,” said Lisa Bergren.
After one speaker after another painted a bleak picture of what library services would look like if funding was cut, several justices of the peace attempted to distance themselves by pointing to how much the county has grown since the millage was increased from 1.1 mills to 1.7 mills in 1998. They said that not only had the population grown from 80,000 to 131,000, but also that property values themselves had continued to climb, thereby producing more tax revenue. Several speakers, however, had already countered that rationale, saying more people in the county required more services.
Adam Webb, president of the Arkansas Library Association, said last week that Amendment 38 allows for a library’s millage to be reduced but that it has to be a citizen-led effort and required 100 names on a petition. Chism said after the meeting that in all of the discussion about the proposed ordinance, there had been no mention of any citizens being involved in getting the proposed ordinance in front of the Quorum Court.
Opponents of the reduction milled around outside the courthouse after the meeting adjourned and mapped strategy. They believe their role now will be to educate the public about the vote ahead.
“I’ve made it a point that no matter where I go, I tell two people about the library and that’s what I will continue to do,” said Bergren, who has asked for numerous documents through the state Freedom of Information Act to bolster her pro-library position.
The move to defund the library is seen as having its roots in the culture wars of a few years ago, when conservatives took aim at librarians and where libraries dared place books and other materials about sex education and LGBTQ subject matter. Three years ago, a handful of people took exception to Saline County head librarian Patty Hector’s book placement and complained to the Quorum Court. Momentum built and, because she wouldn’t kowtow to them, she was fired by County Judge Matt Brumley. Her lawsuit against Brumley is ongoing.
