WOOLWICH

A petition signed by 181 Woolwich residents in February will allow voters to move the Patten Free Library budget request to a June secret ballot.

Residents would normally vote on the library budget at Town Meeting in May. However, due to the petition, Woolwich selectmen agreed to add the request to the town warrant.

As outlined in Article 18a of the warrant, if the decision is not approved, residents will move onto Article 18b and vote on the $50,688 library funding request at Town Meeting as planned.

“If passed, Article 18b is not needed and will be dismissed,” Town Administrator Lynette Eastman clarified. “But if Article 18a fails, then we would go onto Article 18b like we normally would.”

According to Don Adams of Woolwich, who circulated the petition, the main issue is that the town is cutting Fire and EMS budgets, but is willing to pay for the library budget, which reflects a 3 percent increase this year.

Last year, the town of Woolwich paid the Patten Free Library $49,203 for its services. The library is requesting $50,688 for the 2015-16 year.

Adams said moving the warrant to the November ballot would allow more residents who cannot be present at Town Meeting to vote on the issue.

“A lot of people work second shift — they don’t want to come out because Town Meeting is at six, and they don’t want to come here and get shouted down,” he added.

Adams said he also had a problem with the fact that the town must provide “all or nothing” funding because the library does not accept adjusted budgets from towns.

Lesley Dolinger, the director at the Patten Free Library, confirmed that the library bylaws require each town to contribute the same budget as the city of Bath, which is on a per capita basis. If a town is not willing to pay the requested amount or offers a lesser amount, the library cannot serve that community.

In 2012, the town of Phippsburg refused to fund the library’s $35,493 budget for similar reasons. Unlike Phippsburg, which owns Totman Library, Woolwich does not have a public library.

“What I hope to accomplish is that this gets removed from the town warrant and to the November meeting,” Adams added. “My hope is that we don’t fund the library in this way, and if the people want to use it, the town would refund them for their use.”

Eastman said the town cannot legally vote to permanently move the article to the November ballot because the town does not have a charter. However, residents can still vote to move the article to the June or November ballot year after year at Town Meeting, or according to the discretion of the selectmen.

Ultimately, Woolwich selectmen chose to move the ballot to June rather than November in deference for the library, which begins their fiscal year on July 1.

Moving the article to November would have thrown off the library’s budgeting schedule, according to Mary Ellen Kazimer, the president of the board at the Patten Free Library.

“Instead of coming up with a number at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, we would have to come up with a number six months earlier,” she added. “We won’t have audited financials, and we won’t know what the needs of the library really are.”

According to the library’s funding packet for the 2014 year, 16 percent of all library card holders were from Woolwich, with a total of 1,101 active card holders — anyone who has used their card within the last two years. A total of 124 new library cards were issued to Woolwich residents last year.

Dolinger also said the number of Woolwich children attending the library’s summer reading program has increased in a year. The 107 students enrolled in the reading program in 2013 grew to 214 in 2014.

She also added that this information is provided to the town every year, as it is included in the funding packet given to the selectmen at the time of the budget request.

Kazimer, a Woolwich resident, hoped voters would be willing to discuss the warrant at Town Meeting so they can make an informed decision about whether the library should continue to serve the Woolwich community.

“The purpose of Town Meeting is for us to get together as a community to discuss to fund the operations of the town for the best of the community,” Kazimer said. “You end up finding out some information that could change your mind.”

Library budget increases 3%

ACCORDING TO Don Adams of Woolwich, who circulated the petition, the main issue is that the town is cutting fire and EMS budgets, but is willing to pay for the library budget, which reflects a three percent increase this year.

Last year, the town of Woolwich paid the Patten Free Library $49,203 for its services. The library is requesting $50,688 for 2015-16.