Employees at the Capital Area District Library, or CADL, knew even in a slowing economy, area residents still would be there to support their services.
Voters approved a CADL proposal to renew 1.56 mills, or $156 for a house worth $100,000, for the next four years during Tuesday’s primary election.
Heidi Gustad, a spokeswoman for the CADL, said if the millage did not pass, the library system would have to close its doors in January 2011 because of decreased revenues due to falling property values across the area.
CADL was formed in 1998 and consists of 13 Ingham County libraries. The East Lansing Public Library is not included within the system.
“A lot of people, myself included, were surprised at how much (the millage) passed by,” Gustad said. “We got 71.45 percent ‘yes’ votes out of the people who voted, and that’s bigger than what it was in the 2006 election.”
According to the Ingham County Clerk’s Office’s website, the millage passed with 29,214 ‘yes’ votes to 11,671 ‘no’ votes in the election.
Although incoming revenues might continue to decrease, CADL assistant director Maureen Hirten said Ingham County libraries will continue to offer computer classes, book discussion groups and many other educational services.
In these trying times, it is important to do more with less, Hirten said.
“We are celebrating — everyone worked really hard and we got our message out to make sure everyone was aware of the importance of this vote,” she said. “At each one of our libraries (Wednesday), we’re doing little thank you cards because we’re just so thankful of those voters.”
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