According to a press release issued January 2, 2011, trustees of the Barrington Area Library will be considering spending $5.7 million early this year on structural renovations. The monies would come from budget reserves and are needed to address, “increased usage, and shifting patron needs.”
Press release link: http://www.balibrary.org/library-information/news/613-trustee-renovation-plan.html
We voted down the Library’s tax referendum in 2008, so the Library Trustees have been raising our taxes every year since – they’ve approved maximum tax levy increases 5 times in 4 years. They completely gutted and re-did the “check-out” area last year as well as the fireplace areas – and now they say they’re going to gut and remodel the whole place. They’re installing interior security cameras this week – apparently because they already budgeted the expense. Who cares if they have to rip them out and move them in a couple of months? Who cares about the money? Not one of the administrators or department heads even lives in this taxing district.
They haven’t presented a plan or allowed for any public comment or discussion and no one even knows how to get in touch with the Trustees or when or where they meet. We should stop this!