At a Woodstock Public Library District board meeting on Thursday evening, trustees said they will ask voters this October to approve a $250,000 bond to cover a funding shortfall on the district’s new library at 10 Dixon Avenue.
Town Supervisor Bill McKenna appeared early in the meeting to express conditional support for the plan. “The cost to the taxpayer is about two cents per $1,000 of value,” McKenna said. “For an average assessed home of $425,000, you’re looking at about $7.41 per year.”
Library Board President Barry Miller said the bond could be placed directly on the October budget ballot as a proposition. He noted that legal and closing fees would bring the total closer to $300,000.
Library Director Ivy Gocker confirmed the district is moving forward with a formal proposal. “Our first strategy was to see if the town would give us money,” Gocker said. “But ultimately we have to form a bond.”
While the library is currently about $230,000 short of their funding goal, Gocker said a pending $5,000 donation could reduce the gap slightly. She added that the district has rebuilt its donor list and held meetings with potential major donors. It is unclear when the new library will open.
“Since the project started in 2022, we’ve raised $1.7 million,” Gocker said. Trustee Marcia Patten emphasized the scope and diversity of the effort. “We have fabulous naming opportunities at the library,” she said. “If you have a million, we’d love to put your name on the library. We also get checks for seven dollars.” She added that trustees have been “writing grants, reaching out to individual donors, and putting on nonstop events.”
So far in 2025, the library has raised $106,000 in donations, with $35,000 coming in June. Shelving is scheduled to arrive in late August, after which the new building will close for three weeks while staff and volunteers prepare to move all books from the old site to the new library.
To help offset a potential tax increase, trustees also discussed cuts to next year’s operating budget. Gocker presented two scenarios: one in which an internal staff member would be promoted to oversee adult programming—bringing the levy increase to 12.7%—and another in which no staffing changes would be made, reducing the increase to 9.4%.
Trustees debated eliminating Hoopla, a streaming service with limited user access, which would save $4,000. Libraries across the country are ending their Hoopla digital service primarily due to its high cost. They also floated a $10,000 cut to the adult print book budget and considered reinstating a $5,000 contribution from the Friends of the Woodstock Library, a community organization dedicated to raising funds for the library, bringing the projected tax increase down by approximately three percentage points.
“I don’t want to reduce [adult programming] in any way,” said trustee Leslie Gerber, noting it will be one of the library’s signature offerings in the new space. Others agreed that with an anticipated surge in foot traffic, the library should not scale back services.
Still, trustees acknowledged trade-offs may be necessary. “One of the areas we could adjust is the materials budget,” Gocker said. “But there’s not a lot of wiggle room in the new building.” Additional savings could come from delaying the return of Hoopla or forgoing certain electronic subscriptions. A new round of grant applications focused on operating funds is also underway.
Gocker said final budget decisions will be made ahead of next month’s board meeting. “Once we’re in the building, we’ll recalibrate based on actual costs,” she said.
“The Friends have donated money to help with the move,” Gocker said. “We were able to get a reduced fee from the movers.” The total cost of the move is expected to be $38,000. Staff and volunteers will spend three weeks preparing the new facility before fully reopening to the public, marking the final phase of the multi-year construction project.
The board must finalize ballot language by August for the bond proposition to appear on the October budget vote and plans to address the Town Board on Tuesday, August 12. “It’s going to be a beautiful building,” McKenna said. “And I think people are going to support it.”
Editor’s note: This article originally stated that the Woodstock Library Board would present its bond proposal at the July 22 town board meeting. After publication, the board confirmed that the presentation has been rescheduled for August 12.
Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.