Altamonte Springs Commissioners voted 4-1 to save the city’s library at a meeting on Thursday, July 18, a week after the library was almost closed due to budget constraints.
The commissioners approved the millage rate increase which will provide the city with more than $4 million dollars a year, enough to keep the library open.
City Commissioner Bob O’Malley said it was a tough decision, but residents’ passion for their library ultimately won out.
“I think we heard that loud and clear from our residents. And I'm happy that they came out and spoke up,” O’Malley said.
The new tax rate will cost most homeowners in the area about $102 dollars a year.
“And we were pretty frank with our citizens either way, it was going to be a bad choice: you have to raise taxes, or you have to close a library and other essential other popular programs. And nobody wanted to do either one of those,” O’Malley said.
As of Friday, July 19, more than 1,000 people have signed a Change.Org petition to save the library.
In the comments section detailing why they had signed the petition, residents like Eric Lajara wrote, “Closing down places of education is one of the things we should not be doing as a city. There is too much wasteful spending in other areas for this to happen.”
While Molly White wrote, “Libraries are a vital hub of knowledge and learning and Altamonte Springs needs a library.”
The library has operated in the Altamonte Springs community for 64 years. It opened its doors in 1960, and decades later its collection has grown to over 40,000 books, and other items.
The library also offers a separate children’s library for kids and families.
A 2023 American Library Association study, found Gen-Z and Millennials are visiting the library in record numbers and prefer print materials.
Read the full study here:
