Chillicothe Public Library has two propositions on the ballot this election

CHILLICOTHE, Ill. (WMBD) — A busy library with a rich history in the town of Chillicothe.

“In 1916, Andrew Carnegie provided the Chillicothe Free Library a ten thousand dollar check to build the very first library in Chillicothe.” said Mary Aylmer, director of Chillicothe Public Library.”

But the town grew out of the old building after nearly a century.

“They worked tirelessly to find a way to build this beautiful facility, and that was completed in 2004,” Aylmer said.

In the General Election, two referendums are on the ballot for the library: An increased tax rate and an annexing of Steuben, La Prairie, Saratoga and Whitefield in Marshall County to the Chillicothe Public Library.

Both are topics the community wants to know more about.

“What are we going to do with the funds primarily, and what does this mean for their tax bill,” said Thomas Razo, treasurer of Chillicothe Public Library. “I know everyone’s everyone’s tax bill is going to be different, it’s not a one size fits all, but, you know, confidently can say that we would use the funding to help cover things like building maintenance, expand IT programs or services, things that are really going to benefit the community and keep the library operationally and fiscally healthy in the future.”

Currently, those outside of the library district are listed as non-residents. If the referendum passes, they will be listed as residents as everyone else, and with the same library card.

“We’d be able to use that and provide additional services or programs where we need to in order to help families in those underserved areas really allow them to have access to our library resources and programs,” Razo said.

They said it’s all to create a better learning environment.

“Most importantly, providing a place that we can grow community, we can grow ideas, we can provide early literacy for our students, and that means a lot to them,” said Aylmer.

The tax rate of 0.15% was set back in 1992, and if the proposition is approved, it would be raised to 0.25%.

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