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Last week, we were learning about the library's Friends group called the Friends of Reading or FOR and the 3 mill tax increase that the county commissioners placed on the November ballot for community vote.
The library director, Mrs. Stuckenrath, kept copies of each letter to the editor that was published in the Sentinel in October and until the vote on Nov. 5, 1968. There were as many letters for the 3 mill tax increase as there was against.
Those for the tax increase used the library heavily, read many books per year, were on a fixed-income or were not on a fixed income but more affluent who loved the library and wanted to see the county have a vibrant library for all. Those who wrote in support of the tax increase felt that a strong library would bring investors and industry to the county, would keep the younger generation from moving away and would bring new citizens to the county.
If the 3 mill tax increase were passed, the commissioners promised a portion of "the old Wayne Street School lot would be made available for construction of a new library" (from a Sentinel article dated Oct. 25, 1968).
Those who wrote letters against the tax increase felt that the library as well as the commissioners lacked transparency. The tax would bring in $75,000 annually to the library. One person wrote that the commissioners said they would proceed with a new library with or without the tax, so why bother. To another letter writer, $75,000 seemed a lot of money for people who were not salaried, but volunteers. (I don't know why people think we don't get paid.)
The Friends of Reading held a telethon and called people to vote "yes" for the library tax. It must have been an exciting time.
Along with the library tax on the Nov. 5, 1968 ballot was the vote for U.S. President between Richard Nixon, Herbert Humphrey and George Wallace.
Because I've never known the library to receive tax money, I assumed that the vote was lost. In reading over all of the newspaper clippings, I thought the vote would have been by a slim margin. It seemed that many voters were in favor of the library tax. But no. The vote was negative. A major negative. It failed by a nine-to-one margin. For every person who voted "yes," nine voted "no."
So, what happened next? The Mifflin County Library was threatened with a loss of state aid. Public libraries are funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, known as the Bureau of Library Development back in the day. A library's municipalities are expected to help support its local library. It's called "local financial effort." If this happens, the library receives an increase in state aid. That's just how it is.
With the loss of the library tax in 1968 and the continued lack of local financial effort in 1969, the library was facing a $15,000 decrease in funding for 1971 (the planning was done two years in advance, according to a Sentinel column published on March 20, 1969). Also, the library remained in a dilapidated, overcrowded building. Discussion of where to move the library would continue.
Wishing all readers a Happy New Year. 2024 will be filled with change.
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Susan Miriello is the Executive Director of the Mifflin County Library. New books include: Dead Man's Mirror by Agatha Christie; The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar; 1001 Deductions and Tax Breaks 2024 by Barbara Weltman.