Proposed legislation that would give citizens the ability to create their own library district drew both supporters and opponents during a legislative committee hearing Tuesday in Helena.

House Bill 379, sponsored by Rep. Ed Lieser, D-Whitefish, at the request of the Whitefish Community Library board of directors, requires county commissioners to put the creation of a library district to a vote if 20 percent of electors within a proposed district sign a petition.

Currently, if a community wants a library district, 15 percent of the electors can petition the county commissioners, but the commissioners decide whether to put the issue to a public vote.  

“The proponents believe that if a library is servicing an area larger than a city, and voters want to give their tax dollars to the library they use, and a substantial number of voters agree, then a district library should be their decision, not the county commissioners,” Lieser said.

Whitefish Community Library board member Marge Fisher, along with Jerry Hanson of Whitefish and Jan Schultz of Columbia Falls, testified in favor of the bill.

Fisher believes the bill gives citizens more autonomy to create their own library districts.

“We’re not taking anything away from anyone,” she said.

Fisher read comments from library board chairman Michael Collins, who couldn’t be at the Local Government Committee hearing.

Collins said the right of self-determination is a key reason for the proposed legislation. The Whitefish branch library broke away from the Flathead County Library System two years ago in order to establish its own independently run library.

“If a segment of the population is interested and willing to take on the responsibility of managing, funding and guiding this community resource, then there should be a provision in our state statutes that allows for this to happen,” Collins’ written testimony stated. “Clearly all of our many school districts were established under this very same tenet. Why should a library district be any different?”

Kim Crowley, director of the Flathead County Library System, was among those opposing the legislation. She believes the bill is poorly written and runs the risk of disenfranchising residents in rural areas.

Crowley used the example of a heavily populated area such as Lewis and Clark County. If Helena formed its own library district, there may not be a sufficient tax base to financially support libraries in outlying communities such as Lincoln or Augusta.

Crowley also believes proponents of the library district bill should have sought consultation with the state librarian to see if there was a better solution than creating new legislation.

The Montana Association of Counties and Montana Library Association also testified against the bill.

Lieser said the state librarian and the representative from the Montana Library Association “expressed a desire and commitment to work with the proponents of HB 379 to see if there was a better solution.”

A companion bill, HB 380, allows the governing body of a library district to opt out of a county library system, and that by notifying the county commissioners the library district would be exempt from any tax liability for county library systems.

Fisher said the companion bill puts into state law an Attorney General opinion that was issued prior to Whitefish’s decision to set up an independent library. That opinion stated that a taxable property within an incorporated city may become exempt from a county library levy under state law if the city has “an existing tax-supported public library” actually in existence and the city governing body notifies the county of its desire not to be part of the county library system.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.