Library Vote Is Coming

The Montauk Library has released its operating budget proposal for 2014-15. At $774,198, the total is slightly higher than last year. If approved, taxpayers will pay $24.27 (up from $22.93) per $1,000 of assessed property value, roughly $121 for an average house.

The bulk of the library’s revenue comes from property taxes and such fees as fines, copy and computer charges, and grants, estimated at $19,603.

“When you consider the price of buying books, subscribing to magazines or watching movies, your Montauk Library is a wonderful value,” the library says in its current newsletter.

Also on the ballot in upcoming voting are two candidates for the library board, both of whom are incumbents and are running unopposed. Board members serve five-year terms.

The two are Linda Barnds and Joan Lycke. Ms. Barnds, who filled in last year when another director retired, said in the newsletter that she has watched the library grow from a little house on the south side of the highway to where it is now. She said the library had been an integral part of her life and she is now able to give it more time.

Joan Lycke, a library trustee since 1989, is the president of the seven-member board. “I have been a part of the amazing growth of the library and will chair the committee to celebrate its 35th anniversary,” she said in the newsletter.

The polls will be open at the library on April 26 from 2 to 8 p.m. Voters must be residents of Montauk who are registered to vote.