Voters rejected the Union County Public Library System's bid to increase its funding with a .6 mill increase on Tuesday, with fewer than a third of voters casting ballots in favor of the millage.
The millage would have applied to residents of Union County who live outside of El Dorado. The library's millage in El Dorado is 1 mill, and was the same throughout the county up until 1982, when voters rolled the millage back to .4 mills, where it's stayed since, including through five previous failed millage increase campaigns.
Unofficial General Election results show that 6,673 voters cast ballots on the millage initiative. Of those, 4,681 voted against it, including 2,787 who voted on Election Day, 59 who cast absentee ballots and 1,835 who early voted. There were 1,992 ballots cast for the millage initiative: 1,211 on Election Day, 24 absentee and 757 early.
The results are disappointing, said UCPLS Executive Director Michael O'Connell.
"(We're feeling) sad. We were hoping to be in the position to provide more support to our branch libraries," he said in an email to the News-Times on Thursday.
While the Barton Library in El Dorado is the UCPLS' flagship branch, the UCPLS also supports branches in Huttig, Junction City, Norphlet, Smackover and Strong, each operating at least three days a week or more.
When O'Connell pitched the millage initiative to the Union County Quorum Court in August, he said the additional funding would help ensure all of the system's branches remained staffed and full of books, including new releases, the cost of which has increased by more than 10% this year, he said.
Now that the vote has failed, the UCPLS Board of Directors is working to figure out how to keep the system's branches viable.
"I'm working with the board to review all our options," O'Connell said Thursday. "Unfortunately, we are going to have to reduce some services, and all options are currently on the table."
The library's annual budget is currently about $636,000. The millage would have brought the budget up to about $900,000.
The library system has been struggling for several years. In 2020, the News-Times reported that 42% of the UCPLS' funding came from the City of El Dorado, 39% from Union County and 12% from the State of Arkansas. Nearly 70% of the system's budget goes to payroll, with most employees making about minimum wage.
"Everyone that I discussed the issue with was positive in their response," O'Connell said Thursday. "We just need to reach more people to share why this is needed."
Whether the UCPLS will pursue another millage vote in 2024 is still up in the air, O'Connell said. For now, the UCPLS will continue on its mission to provide the gift of reading to Union County residents.
"We would like to thank all of our supporters, and we look forward to serving the community for years to come," O'Connell said. "Even without the success of this question, we will continue to serve the people of Union County as we have for the last 107 years."