When Deposit School District voters receive their paper ballots for this year’s budget vote, they will notice an extra proposition from the Deposit Free Library. In addition to voting on the 2020-21 school budget and bus purchases, voters will be given the opportunity to decide on an increase in financial support for our local library.
We have posted lots of pertinent information in the drop down menus at the top of this page under the heading: 2020 School District Vote Information.
We consciously made the choice not to go back to the voters for annual increases, as many libraries do because we didn’t want the taxpayers to feel we were constantly asking for more money. However, in addition to rising costs, the library has lost two regular sources of income: Broome County stopped funding our library in 2018 and the BOOKS program, begun by Senator Thomas Libous many years ago, has been eliminated. The library is proposing an increase from $55,000 to $65,000 a year.
The Covid-19 pandemic has turned everything upside down. We would like the public to know that plans for this proposition were put into place many months before the pandemic hit. We had planned to hold a public meeting to answer any questions from voters. Unfortunately, that could not happen. Anyone with questions is invited to call the library at 467-2577 and leave a message or email de.deborah@4cls.org. Our director, Deb Stever, or any board member would be happy to answer your questions.
Please know we are making every effort to be ready to open as soon as we receive the ok from the state/county government. We thank you in advance for your continued support during this uncertain time.
