Voters OK library tax by 119 votes

Tuesday was a night of churning stomachs for library supporters, but in the end Cape Girardeau voters approved the expansion of the public library by 119 votes.

The measure asked for an $8.9 million addition to the Cape Girardeau Public Library to be funded by doubling the portion of the property tax for library use on homes within the Cape Girardeau district. The final tally was 1,249 votes for the measure, 1,130 against.

"I'm just thrilled. This is so gratifying. So many wonderful people helped to make this possible," said Carolyn Ford Bock, president of the Friends of the Public Library Foundation. "I just wouldn't let myself think of defeat."

And it took every bit of determination for the 30 boosters who gathered Tuesday night at the library to stay positive.

Turnout was low with only 2,379 of the 20,536 eligible voters in the Cape Girardeau Public Library District, or 11.6 percent, casting ballots in the 15 precincts. Almost every precinct was split nearly 50-50 with margins rarely larger than 30 votes.

At 7:50 p.m., with half the precincts reported, supporters gathered around snack food and made anxious conversation. Library board of trustees president Ron Carlton had just put up the latest tallies on the dry erase board and it showed the measure being ahead by a scant 43 votes out of nearly 1,000.

"It's going to be close," said board member Joan Slaughter, who spent the day working the polls at Grace United Methodist Church.

"It's terrifying. This city is so wonderful and so progressive, they need a bigger and better library. I'll be disappointed if voters don't realize that."

The group anxiously waited for 15 more minutes for a call to come from the county clerk's office.

Finally, the cell phone rang. The room went silent, but when Carlton tried to answer there was no voice on the other end. After a long minute without answers, librarian Jean Martin came into the room from the circulation desk.

"It passed," she said. The room erupted with people hugging and dancing.

"It took the majority. We had a lot of people working hard, but we were prepared to accept defeat if that's what the voters determined," said Carlton.

But looking out at the public library, Carlton who'd spent the night anxiously tallying results allowed himself to smile.

"The style, it's from the '70s. Nothing's wrong with the '70s, I got married in the '70s, but we've got to move forward and update this place."

Nobody was happier Tuesday than library director Betty Martin. Over the last few months she gave 47 presentations laying out the library's vision.

"I'm humbled by the support library volunteers have given to this project and what love there is for libraries. That people saw the vision of a destination library is just great," she said.

The owners of a home valued at $120,000 would pay $34 more a year in property tax to the library over the next 20 years.

The project will double the size of the library and replace the heating and air-conditioning systems. The proposed "destination library" would boast a drive-through window, larger meeting areas, more computers and a larger colorful children's area.

The expansion will take 18 months to two years to complete. The new library is projected to open doors sometime in 2009.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245