New Carlisle Library hours expected to be extended soon

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

New Carlisle voters approved a library levy to allow it to stay open longer, according to unofficial results from the Clark County Board of Elections.

The New Carlisle public library levy passed with about 63 percent of the vote for the measure against 37 percent of voters who voted no.

FIRST REPORT: New Carlisle voters approve levy for library

Director Beth Freeman said the result proves people of New Carlisle care about their library.

“I want to say thank you,” she said. “It a real validation of the work everyone in the library does and that the community supports us. That’s very exciting and very humbling and we are really, really grateful.”

The levy got off to a lead after early votes were counted and continued to climb as the New Carlisle precincts were tabulated. It was the first time Freeman watched elections results in which she was involved, she said.

“It was very tense because you never know what is going to happen but it was really, really wonderful,” she said.

Because of the yes vote, the library will have longer hours soon, Freeman said.

“My hope is for those hours to start in January,” she said.

The levy is .9 mills and will cost a taxpayer who owns a $50,000 home $15.75 a year. The levy will last five years and will generate about $78,000 a year.

The library is funded by state sales tax and through the Public Library Fund, which still hasn’t recovered from the 2009 recession, Freeman said. The new money will help fill the revenue gap.

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