JACKSON HOPES TO COMBINE LIBRARIES

JACKSON -- It isn't a long walk from Jackson Public Library to Riverside Regional Library.

The two libraries have shared patrons in a town of about 10,000 since the 1950s. On Monday, the Jackson Board of Aldermen, with support from both library boards, voted to change that.

Library board members want to combine forces and build a $1.5 million building on two acres in Jackson City Park. It would open in 1997.

To do it, voters must approve an 18-cent tax levy on the November ballot. The issue would affect everyone in Jackson, Cape Girardeau County, and parts of Cape Girardeau city annexed after 1965.

The current library tax is 13 cents for residents in the Jackson Public Library District and 8 cents for those in the Riverside Regional Library District.

If the levy issue doesn't pass, it will be business as usual for both libraries, which are only a few blocks from each other.

"This isn't something we decided overnight," Jackson Library Board President Terri Tomlin said. "This is a commitment that will take us into the 21st century."

Doors of the Jackson Public Library opened in 1927. The Riverside Regional Library formed in 1955 to serve Cape Girardeau, Perry and Scott counties. Jackson was chosen for a headquarters because of its central location in the three counties, but there are five other libraries in various cities.

All the sites thrived over the years.

But the Jackson Public Library has been underfunded for some time, said Mayor Paul Sander. As a result, purchases of common library equipment like video cassette recorders and computer indexes were difficult to manage.

The problem is a state law that became effective Oct. 13, 1965, restricting the Jackson Public Library District boundaries to the 1965 city limits. As a result, the tax base of the library is limited permanently, although the city itself grew in the years following 1965.

Officials will try to sell voters on the new plan by explaining the benefits of a combined library and pointing out how little taxes will increase. For a Jackson resident in the public library district, taxes would rise only $12.50 on a house with an assessed valuation of $25,000.

And that same resident could enjoy more programs, ample parking, combined historical and genealogical collections and, of course, twice as many books at the new Riverside Regional Library-Jackson Center, promoters said.

Sander said he feels voters will support the levy, agreeing with all the city and library boards involved that it is best for everyone.

"If you can get that many people to agree on anything, it's quite an accomplishment," he said. "This is the first time in many years that everyone has agreed."