Town Books It to Library Vote Tonight

Town residents will decide tonight whether to approve a $6.7 million expansion of the

The library is the marquee item on the warrant for the Town Meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m. at .

Supporters have been urging voters to support the expansion project, saying the library is too small now to serve the community effectively.

The current 7,000 square-foot library would expand to 29,000 square feet to accommodate public meeting space, expanded collections, a larger children’s room, dedicated space for teens and more programs for all ages.

The state has awarded the town a $5 million grant to cover nearly half the cost. The total cost of the project is $11.7 million, which brings the town’s share to about $6.7 million.

If the library expansion does not pass, a smaller-scale project must still be done to make the building handicapped-accessible. Supporters have argued that this would still cost taxpayers money and would not be offset by grant money.

Opponents of the library project have raised concerns about the cost and size of the library, and whether a new library is needed in an era when automated devices are requiring less space.

Tonight’s vote, which is article 5, requires a two-third vote. If approved, the measure then goes to a ballot vote, where a simple majority is required.

Article 6, a related article, would call for the formation of a building committee to plan the future of the expansion, assuming it passes. A simple majority is required.

of both articles.

The project would add $79 a year to the average tax bill. This figure could change and potentially drop if a proposal to bundle all the town’s project costs into one amount, which would then by divided into equal installments, goes forward.