Posted: Sept. 11, 2009 |(0) Comments

Muskego — With Muskego growing, the Muskego Library Board is already thinking about new things the library might have to do to keep its membership in the Waukesha County Federated Library System.

"At certain levels, certain things have to be done," said Diane Dominski, Library Board president. Those could be things like more materials or staff or open hours, she said. The trigger for those extra things is a community population of 25,000, she said.

"In the next five years, we could well hit it," she said.

The Library Board will start working on what might be required and put it into the library's five-year plan, she said.

Keeping the city's membership in the federated system is important, even if it is more expensive, she said. For one thing, it enables residents to borrow books and other library materials from any other member library, she said.

"Borrowing within the county is like borrowing at your local library," Dominski said. A van brings the book from the outside library to the Muskego Library, which then lets patrons know it is ready for pickup.

The federated system also provides the electronic card catalog, she said.

It is stunning to think what the library would do without it, she said.

But even if the library has to spend more to stay in the federated system, growth automatically brings in more property tax dollars without raising the tax rate. That is because growth increases the tax base.

 

- Jane Ford-Stewart