A YES Vote for the Library is a Win-Win-Win

Shrewsbury voters have an important decision to make on November 5.

Our library is in dire need of repairs, and something must be done—we must make an investment one way or the other. Here’s why we believe voting YES for the library rebuild is the best choice for our town:

It’s a win for our services.

If we don’t vote to fund the library rebuild via a debt exclusion on November 5, we must pull millions of dollars from our already strained operating budget to fix the existing library. This jeopardizes all our other municipal departments—schools, police, fire, highway, etc.

It’s a win for our wallets.

There is real value in choosing the new building. The cost differential to taxpayers between making the necessary repairs and building a new library is just $800,000. (The total cost of the new building is $23.3M, less the $7.9M state grant and $1.75M in private fundraising—both of which we forfeit if we don’t vote YES on November 5—for a net cost to taxpayers of $13.6M, vs. the cost for the necessary repairs of $12.8M, all of which we must pay for on our own.) For pennies a day for the average homeowner, we can have a library that is greener, smarter, and longer lasting. And because the debt exclusion is not a permanent override, once the new building is paid for, the cost disappears from our tax bills.

It’s a win for our future.

It doesn’t make sense to pour money into an aging building that doesn’t meet the needs of our current community, much less the needs of our community in 20, 30, or 40 years. And if we don’t vote Yes for this library on November 5, the ship of opportunity will have sailed; we won’t have an opportunity for another grant. It’s now or never. 

Let’s invest in ourselves, in our property values, and in our lifelong learning. Join us in VOTING YES on November 5.

Respectfully,

April & David Prince