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Community

DeWitt Library Referendum

DeWitt Library
a drawing of the DeWitt Library after the expansion
Credit DeWitt Library
how the interior of the DeWitt Library might look.

Some residents of Clinton County will be asked to help pay for the expansion of their library. Polls will be open on Tuesday in DeWitt for the 3.5 million dollar library improvement referendum.

Library director, Jillian Aschliman, says the money would pay for an expansion from the current 75-hundred square feet up to 21,000. Not only would that provide more room for books, magazines, and other materials, it would also make room for more computers and meeting rooms and classroom space.

"There's a misconception that libraries are quiet warehouses with just books and that they're outdated. And that's not true. Libraries are really evolving with how people are accessing information and that's what we're trying to do with this building expansion."

As an example, Aschliman says currently the DeWitt Library has 7 computers for patrons to use, but with the expansion, that could increase to 20, which is recommended for a city and service area of that size.

If the referendum is approved, the average home-owner in DeWitt would pay an additional 16 dollars per year in property taxes, for five years. 

Due to state law, the referendum needs at least a 60 per cent majority to pass. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.