From former Crystal Lake Library Board member Bill Weller:
“I am not a regular reader of your blog but I’ve been told you have referred to me twice in the last couple weeks. I want to clear up a couple of misinterpretations.
“First of all, I was not ‘the leader” of the Library Board. More importantly, you have totally misrepresented my wishes for the library and the city of Crystal Lake. I do not want another referendum. I want a new library building. I’m interested in that happening any way possible.
“Whether a new building is bigger or smaller, here or there, paid for by taxes or donated by a wealthy donor are all topics for debate but the need for a new building is not.
Unless you and your followers want to eliminate the library entirely (which would be a different topic worthy of debate), I’d think you would agree with me. Every year more and more tax dollars go into keeping that old, inefficient building functional. The need for repairs and replacements are never ending. And even though attention is paid to the life expectancy of furnishings, equipment, and infrastructure (many of which are long surpassed) the reality of unforeseen failures or breakdowns are likely as the building grows older.
“Why not ask Watchdog Willson to stop quibbling over how much money is spent on DVDs and look at the tax dollars spent to keep the current building open since the last referendum failed? None of those dollars made the library bigger or more accessible or more adaptable to modern use. Instead we have the same building now 10 years older and even more expensive to replace. Think of how much money the next 10 years will require! It is frighteningly stupid to keep dumping money into that building but we have no choice until there is a new one.”
