Mixed reactions for new library district

POLSON — Patrons streamed in and out of the Polson Library last Wednesday afternoon, just like any other day. Inside, visitors, young and old checked out books, sat and read the newspaper and surfed the Internet. What appeared to be just any other day wasn’t. Instead, each patron that opened the door walked past multiple, identical signs: “Thank you, voters!!!” they read. “The North Lake County Public Library District (NLCPLD) Levy has PASSED!” With a 48.5 percent of 6,770 registered voters in the district turning in ballots during the July 8 to 27 time frame, the final tally came to 1,765 for the creation and funding of the new district, 1,522 against the measure. The numbers were canvassed and certified by the three Lake County Commissioners on Monday morning.

“I think the word would be ‘elated’,” youth services librarian Trude Hunsucker said of the employee reaction to the vote results. “The feedback [from library patrons] has been very positive with lots of thumbs up, happy smiles and thankfulness.”

There was indeed a need for elation. The battle for the library, now part of the newly formed NLCPLD, had been fought and won, the product of a community grassroots campaign that began in the early 2000s, according to steering committee chair Jake Block. A similar attempt to create the district was put on the ballot during the November 2008 general election, but the levy, with a maximum of 10 mills, was defeated by a count of 3,057 to 2,936.

“The first time, I don’t think we got the word out sufficiently,” Block, who began on the steering committee during the first attempt, said. “We were not as much a presence in Proctor, Rollins and Valley View as we needed to bea.”

This time, if only by a slim margin, the steering committee, a group virtually in charge of the campaign, got the word out, the necessary votes and support to levy a maximum of 11.14 mills per taxable property.

“[The board] know they’ll be able to serve this jurisdiction better than they could before,” Block said after the results were certified.

Those involved know the battle isn’t over. Now, the library must have a board of trustees approved by the County Commissioners, oversee the money and make necessary improvements using the taxpayers’ funds they will begin collecting in November.

The close vote was representative of what was sometimes a contentious fight. Letters to the editor, signs on cars and in yards and pamphlets and flyers about the mill levy often had strong sentiment on the issue one way or the other.

Some compared it to the street improvement levy, which failed during the June 8 primary election. Others wondered why other libraries in the county were not included. Block said other county-wide libraries were invited, but all declined.

“As I understand it, the district does not have to be contiguous, so a Charlo library or St. Ignatius library could join at any time,” Block said.

 But much of the contention comes from the boundary lines of the new district. Running from the north end of the county near Rollins all the way south to Minesinger Trail, with a west boundary at the Sanders County Line and to the east the Mission Mountain Range, the district will mimic Polson School District No. 23’s boundaries, election administrator Kathie Newgard said. But not everyone’s pleased about that.

“Like most people who actually live in northern Lake County, I can travel much quicker and much safer with the kids to a better library in Kalispell, and it wouldn’t cost me nearly as much as paying forever for more permanent bureaucrats far away in Polson,” Robert J. Lavin, a resident of northern Lake County, said in a July 15 letter to the editor. “The chances of anyone in my neighborhood ever benefiting from that ‘North Lake County’ library down in Polson is zero… How many Polson residents would support the levy if the purpose was to put a library in, say, Dayton, only 23 miles away?”

Lake County election’s Ann Brower said because the vote wasn’t tallied per precinct, it is impossible to know how different areas voted.

Walking around the library last Thursday afternoon, this reporter found that of five people talked to using the facility, only two owned property that will be taxed under the new mill levy while most possessed library cards.

Bill and Chery Ehresman, of Huntley, Mont., a town east of Billings, visit a friend in Polson every summer. During their trip they almost always use the library, mainly to pick up a wireless Internet connection, which is what brought them there last week.

“There’s other options but it’s a very nice, quiet place to sit,” Bill said. “I think, for once, it’s a wise use of tax dollars. I give the people of Polson a lot of credit.”

Dayle Halverson lives in Portland, Ore., for most of the year but owns a home in Polson and spends approximately four months in the area. The library has proven itself to be the epicenter of almost every visit, she said, and her children participate in the summer reading program.

“Anytime we go to town, they ask, ‘Can we go to the library?’” she said of her three children, aged six, eight and 12. “Every time we come to stay, the first stop is the library. We get books for the kids and check e-mail. The librarians are amazing and [the library] is a good place to connect with the community.”

Others come from further away during their visit. Jane Thomas, of La Quinta, Calif., has come to stay at Lake Mary Ronan every summer for 11 years and uses the library every time.

“I read three or four books a week, so to be able to come and get books is wonderful,” Thomas, who stays for three months each summer, said. “I wish I could’ve voted because I think libraries are really important to the community. It’s the one place that people of all generations come together.”

While the results of the district will take time, possibly years, to determine, Thomas’ observation proved true last Thursday: people young and old, from all over the country, were using every possible resource in the Polson Library.