Bluffs library director Ellen Graves made the request during a village board meeting earlier this month. The current levy rate for the library is 17 cents. Graves says she talked to trustees about incrementally increasing that number to 25 cents, which is the maximum.
Graves tells us that would help them make ends meet at the library.
“This little village has it’s library, and it gets used a lot. I have people that stop in through the summertime that do a lot of genealogy work for family that’s in this area. We have the old Scott County Times on microfilm. We try to do a lot of work with the children in the summertime. It’s getting harder and harder because they read at home now on their computers and their tablets and things,” says Graves.
“But, we still try to keep the doors open. This is a great little library, and I really want to keep it open so getting more money in is pretty vital to that,” she adds.
Graves says there hasn’t been a significant raise in the tax levy in the last ten years. And she says, grant money is tricky because of the state budget impasse.
The Bluffs village board is scheduled to further discuss the matter during its meeting next month.