Sometimes people need a little bit of help from their friends.
The Library Yes! Committee, made of volunteers with various ties to the Springfield Township Library, spread the library millage message leading up to the Aug. 8 primary election.
That message, asking township voters to say yes to an additional funding millage for the library, paid off when voters apporoved the addition 1,184 to 812.
The millage is for 0.5 mill, expected to generate $339,000 in its first year and is held in perpetuity.
That is in addition to the current millage on the books passed at that same rate in 1990, also levied in perpetuity, that provides approximately $300,000 annually. Due to Headlee Rollback, the amount of the original millage is reduced yearly.
Library Director Cathy Forst told The Clarkston News the money will go to pay for operational costs, new materials and technology as well as more staff funding.
Library Yes! has a membership base of 15-20 volunteers who meet weekly Forst said. The group formed in late spring after the decision was made to push for this ballot initiative.
‘The Friends are very pleased that the community and our grassrootseffort were successful and we are happy we will be able to continue our great service and move forward,? said Susan Kraly, President of the Friends of Springfield Library and member of Library Yes!
‘We couldn’t have done it without them,? Forst said. ‘I’m very appreciative of that, it was really a group effort.?
The group spoke to absentee voters and businesses. They also made an appearance at voting precincts on election day to distribute bookmarks.
One big accessory the group utilized was the free standing yard sign, which Forst said numbered somewhere near 90. The committee also made brochures available at the library detailing the funding that the library receives as compared to others from the area.
The library moved from its former location, which was an old schoolhouse on Andersonville Road, in 2002. The department’s new home within the lower level of the Springfield Twp. Civic Center is roughly four times larger.
Kraly said she thinks the library has still held onto a warm atmosphere despite being in a much larger facility, ‘I think we have the best of both worlds.?
Membership and circulation have both doubled for the library since the move.