Fearing that they were going to lose their library, residents of Marine on St. Croix and surrounding communities pulled together to save it and take over much of the operation themselves.
Their efforts over the past nine months have apparently paid off.
The city of Marine on St. Croix and Washington County are finalizing language for a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) that will allow the city to take over the responsibility of running the library and establish a partnership with the county that spells out which services it will still provide.
City attorneys are reviewing the draft before it goes to the Marine City Council. If the council signs off, the JPA would need county approval before the deal would be complete, said County Administrator Jim Schug.
Both the city and county expect that to happen in the coming weeks. Toward that end, the newly formed nonprofit Marine Library Association (MARLA) that will oversee much of the operation will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Marine City Hall to recruit volunteers to staff the library and form committees to develop programs and classes for kids and adults, said MARLA spokeswoman Robin Brooksbank.
"People are ready to put on the work gloves and make things work," said Brooksbank. "We plan to be ready to take over Jan. 1."
Brooksbank estimates that it will take about $20,000 a year to operate what's being called a "Community Reading Room." The City of Marine will kick in about $8,000 for utilities and lost rent from the County Library system.
The final language in the JPA will have to address how a bequest of $230,000 left to the county more than 10 years ago by former Marine resident Elizabeth Jordan could be used. The bequest, now worth about $308,000, was given to "benefit the Marine Library."