IN MONEY MATTER, A LITTLE TOWN SAYS NO TO BIG GOVERNMENT

SWEET SPRINGS, Mo. -- Five years ago folks here decided they needed to replace their 40-year-old, book-jammed library, which -- with just 700 square feet of space -- was smaller than most convenience stores.

The cost? Estimates came to $70,000. Over the years the city had squirreled away $40,000 for just such a project. The rest seemed easy -- the federal Library Services Construction Act would pony up the remaining $30,000 in the form of a grant.

Inquiries were made, forms were filled out. Officials at the Missouri State Library, which administers the act, assured F.C. Dohrman, now mayor but then acting as a member of the town's library board, that the money was in the bag.

Then, when the grant was approved, an odd thing happened.

Sweet Springs turned the federal money down flat.

"We'd gotten around to really reading the fine print on the forms," Dohrman said. "Instead of jumping through all those hoops, the library board recommended that the city turn the grant down and raise the money ourselves. I'm sure we didn't make the people who give out the grants real happy."

"we were disappointed," said Barbara Reading, development director at the state library. "The Sweet Springs library had done a lot of work. So had our staff."

Last month volunteers here started toting the first of an estimated 10,000 books out of the former library at 325 Spring St. and over to a new, 2,900-square-foot brick library just half a block away at 217 turner St.

"People just love," said Jennie Aiken, the librarian. "There's so much space, so much more light. And we didn't miss a day of being open."

Dohrman's convinced that Sweet Springs' new library wouldn't be open today if the city had gone for the grant money.

"That would have made it federal," he said. "Out here, construction companies won't even bid on federal projects. Wont' touch 'em. Too much red tape, too many forms to fill out, too many people in the way. Add what the regulations and assurances and all the rest would have meant and you're looking at double what it ended up costing."

Plus, Dohrman said, even if a willing bidder/builder could have been found, Sweet Springs isn't exactly the big city. The library project would have been low priority, one of those small jobs construction companies fit in between big ones.

"They'd have gotten to us when they could," he said. "Which means we'd still just have a vacant lot. Our construction began in December (1998) and was pretty much finished by March."

The Rev. Chuck Ahlemann, pastor of the First Baptist Church and also a library board member, recalls that some residents weren't overly pleased when they learned that what seemed like a $30,000 windfall has been rejected. That much money, for a town of 1,900, if a sizable piece of change.

"But all you had to do was read some of the regulations to them -- continual on-site inspections, a certified architect, an engineer, paperwork about paperwork, and on and on," Ahlemann said.

He added that some of the requirements, all of which would have to have been accounted for on reams of more paper, were just plain common sense.

Obviously, in building the library, Sweet Springs wasn't about to use lead-based paint, block access for the disabled or discriminate against anybody.

"You go through the forms closely and you begin to wonder who they're talking about," Ahlemann said. "This is a good two and these are decent people. This is their town. What sort of people do they think we are?"

Once people were knew the score, they jumped in with both feet.

There were chili suppers, bake and rummage sales, pancake breakfasts.

A former resident stopped by a tavern, heard about the drive while drinking a beer and left a $100 check on the bar.

The newspaper publicized what was happening. Elementary school teachers here came up with $300.

"People did all sort of things," said resident Winifred Lynch. "People even came out and watched the building go up. You just can't imagine."

Carol Zumbehl, president of the Friends of Sweet Springs Library, said the fund drive, which has raised more than $28,000 with money still coming in, has been an eye opener in regard to community involvement. Several bequests for specific library-related projects are waiting in the wings, she added.

"People have just been so helpful," she said. "It's just been unbelievable."

Gary Markenson, executive director of the Missouri Municipal League, said a city turning down a federal grant, while not unheard of, was rare.

"First, there's not that much grant money floating around," he said. "Where we see it happen is mainly in water and wastewater systems. A town or city will figure that all the red tape isn't worth it in the long run. So they'll go out and borrow the money, build the system to their specifications, not some government ones, and figure they're ahead because they're out from all the paper.

"But turning down federal money. We don't keep track of it. But no, it doesn't happen very often."

Reading of the state library said other towns in Missouri -- Salem and Sikeston, for instance -- had used grant money for library construction. Unfortunately, she said, that particular grant program has now ended.

Sweet Springs is just getting started. Money now is needed for more shelving, Internet access, additional furnishings and, as always, more books. Donations can be made to the Friends of the Sweet Springs Library, 217 Turner St., Sweet Springs, MO 65351.

Ahlemann said he found humor in some of the regulations, especially one that assured the federal government that the Sweet Springs library wouldn't create a "vibration" that would damage nearby historic structures.

"I can figure that one out," he said. "What do you think they though we'd be doing in a library that'd cause damaging vibrations?

"Anyway, the only historic structure even near the library is our old, 19th century city jail. Everybody here knows not even a tornado would budge it."

Jim Fisher is the mid-America correspondent for The Kansas City Star.