(Host) Library trustees in Montpelier hope local voters are generous on Tuesday’s town meeting. Trustees of the Kellogg-Hubbard library have asked residents of Montpelier and surrounding towns for more support for the 100-year old library.
Trustee Paul Costello says the library’s endowment fell sharply because of the stock market decline. It needs more revenue to cover operating costs. He says the towns of Middlesex, Worcester, Calais, East Montpelier and Berlin are being asked to pay about six dollars per person per year to support the library.
Costello says Kellogg-Hubbard is the second busiest library in the state. It hosts about 750 people a day, more than double the number a few years ago. He says the library is still a place for literature and research:
(Costello) “But these days, that mission has expanded. The library itself is twice the size of what it was two years ago, with our expansion. It’s also bridging the digital divide for the region by providing Internet access to almost 100 people a day who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to research or to have the communication that Internet provides in any other way. So it’s a library that’s moving forward and it’s moving forward by turning back and looking for a greater partnership with the public in all communities that we serve.”
(Host) Montpelier voters are also being asked to approve an extra $8,000 to cover the library’s operating costs. That’s in addition to the $60,000 for the library that’s already in the proposed city budget.
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Town Meeting Day is available online.