, Arkansas Advocate; 3 years after fight over LGBTQ+ books, an Arkansas community takes up vote to cut library money
Ballot measure driven by Saline County elected officials, not private citizens
"Saline County has been a primary battleground over Arkansas libraries’ funding and content in the past few years, part of a larger fight libraries around the country have faced over efforts to restrict access to books addressing race, sexuality or other controversial subjects. The vote comes three years after Saline County’s library director was fired in a standoff with conservatives who wanted books about LGBTQ+ topics removed from shelves.
The library’s Facebook page includes information about voting, but no mention of Issue 5.
“If a ballot initiative had been run by citizens… the library could have come out and defended itself,” Chism said. “They can’t do anything when it’s their own elected officials doing it.”
The all-Republican Saline County Quorum Court voted 10-2 in May, after much public pushback, to allow the public to vote on reducing the Saline County Library’s millage to 1.1 mills. The library currently receives 1.7 mills, or $1.70 for every $1,000 of assessed property tax in the county of more than 131,000 people.
If voters approve Issue 5, the library is expected to lose $1.4 million per year, or about one-third of its projected $5.7 million operating budget for 2027."
