In uncertain times, people take their victories where they find them, and the beleaguered boosters of the Troy (Mich.) Public Library are no exception. “While the library may close (or it may not), it will not be closing on May 1,” Director Cathleen Russ announced April 20 on the Mich-l discussion list.
Russ’s uncertainty is understandable given the long, bumpy fiscal road the library has traveled. Slated in February to close permanently beginning May 1 for lack of municipal funding, TPL has been phasing out services for over a month. In the meantime, tenacious supporters have continued to press decision-makers behind the scenes.
“To make a long story short,” Russ explained, “at the City Council meeting on Monday, April 18, one of the city councilwomen proposed a plan to fund the library for $1.6 million (including collections) for the 2011–2012 budget year, which begins July 1. The Council decided to revisit the 2011–2012 budget (scheduled to be approved on May 9 or 16) and see if funds could be found to support the library. Budget hearings begin on Monday, April 25, and continue May 2 and May 9.”
“I don’t want to give people false hopes. The library still might close,” Troy Mayor Louise Schilling said in the April 20 Detroit Free Press. She favors placing a dedicated millage before voters in November, according to the April 19 Oakland Press; two millages have been defeated in the past 14 months, the most recent a 10-year levy that lost by only 675 votes.
Elected leaders’ reconsideration of the library’s future came shortly after polling firm Target Insyght released the results of a March 29–April 3 phone survey of 400 Troy residents about the city’s fiscal straits. Target Insyght Executive Director Ed Sarpolus told city council members at the April 18 meeting that 72% back either maintaining or increasing public library services, with 32% declaring the library their top municipal priority, according to the Free Press.
“There are two groups of people,” Troy resident Beth Tetrault testified at the meeting. “People who don’t want new taxes but want to keep the library open and people who believe the only way to keep the library open is with a new millage.”