Committee nears a decision on consolidated library

A committee studying consolidation of Oconto County’s six independent libraries into a single county system was scheduled to meet April 9 and consider a recommendation to that effect. The special Library Planning Committee has been meeting since last summer to work on an update of the five-year county library plan to cover 2025 through 2029. A main focus has been finding ways to reduce the flow of county tax dollars to Brown County, which has been sending a six-figure invoice annually for services rendered to Oconto County residents who patronize Brown County Library branches, mostly Howard and Pulaski. Under a state statute passed in the 1990s, counties with consolidated library systems may bill neighboring counties that do not have consolidated systems for costs incurred when residents from the non-consolidated counties borrow materials. Each of the six Oconto County libraries operates independently, either as a municipal library or as a joint library covering several municipalities. If they were to be merged into a countywide system, Brown County would no longer be able to bill Oconto County. Minutes of the Library Planning Committee meeting of March 12 indicate that County Board Supervisor Tom Bitters made a motion to establish a consolidated library system, “comprised of all existing joint libraries in Oconto County, all existing municipal libraries in Oconto County and all unserved districts in Oconto County.” Bitters withdrew his motion after County Clerk Kim Pytleski reminded the committee that the agenda for the March 12 meeting did not indicate that it would be taking action on forming a library system. State law requires that a public body’s agenda must state whether action is contemplate, to give citizens notice and an opportunity to provide feedback. The committee was scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. April 9 in Room 3041 of the Oconto County Courthouse, Building A. The agenda included a straw poll regarding a consolidated library system, as opposed to keeping the current structure of municipal and joint libraries with changes to funding options. wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com