The Rice Public Library Issue

This is a story printed in the Portsmouth Herald. For more of the story click here.

Rice library’s bid to relocate sparks fight
Lee Perkins, director of Rice Public Library in Kittery, Maine, said Town Council Chairman Jeffrey Thomson’s proposal to delay funding for the library would force it to close. Photo by Rich Beauchesne/Seacoastonline
Lee Perkins, director of Rice Public Library in Kittery, Maine, said Town Council Chairman Jeffrey Thomson’s proposal to delay funding for the library would force it to close. Photo by Rich Beauchesne/Seacoastonline

By Jesse Scardina
jscardina@seacoastonline.com
NH_Portsmouth_Herald

KITTERY, Maine – A proposal by the Town Council chairman to suspend half of Rice Public Library’s funding until April was referred to as punishment or intimidation by other councilors, with the library director saying such a change would shut down the library.

At Monday’s council meeting where it unanimously approved a $27.7 million budget, Chairman Jeffrey Thomson motioned that the library’s funding, which was appropriated in full, be delivered on a different scale, so it puts pressure on the library to work more closely with the town in regards to future plans for the library.

The library currently gets a third of its funds in August, a third in December and a third in April. Thomson proposed to appropriate half of the $448,412 in this calendar year, with the other half in April.

For more of this story, click here.