Mokena Library Board Holds Public Hearing On, Then Approves Budget

After posting a public notice about a slight tax increase, the Mokena Library Board is set to post another notice in the coming weeks. The forthcoming public notice deals with the approval of the Mokena Community Public Library's budget for the 2011-2012 year, which was approved during the board's Tuesday, Aug. 23 meeting.

The first notice informed residents of .02 percent tax levy, which is something Library Director Cathy Palmer said is normal.

“This is done every year,” Palmer said. “Basically, all it's used for is our building maintenance fund, that is what that is used for. That's the best way to explain it.”

The second public notice will be to announce the upcoming fiscal year budget for the library, which was approved unanimously. There was a special meeting of the Library Board before its regularly scheduled meeting to hear public comments on the budget. Following the special session, the board convened in open session to further discuss the budget and vote on the matter.

“At this meeting, we actually approved, now, our budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year,” Palmer said.

During the meeting the board also heard the results from the summer reading program, which drew rave reviews from the public according to board members. The summer reading program saw 962 children and young adults read 9,941 hours, more than 100 high school students read 500 books and 231 adults read 1,415 books.

The next meeting of the Mokena Library board will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27.