City snubs library plans

Four out of five city commissioners voted Tuesday night to indefinitely postpone a plan to expand the Lawrence Public Library.

The proposed $20 million project, which would expand the current public library or fund construction of a new facility, was originally formulated four years ago.

Library director Bruce Flanders said that he thought the library was not adequate for more than 50,000 active library-cardholders, and that the library could use several improvements to make it comparable with other modern libraries around the country.

"We're disappointed, because we have been working at this for years, for like four years on this expansion project," Flanders said. "It sort of puts a punctuation mark at the end of that discussion, but it is not the end for us. We start a new chapter here."

The project would require a property tax increase. Commissioners agreed that tax revenues should be used to address other community concerns ahead of the library expansion.