With a recent YouGov poll reporting that 84% of respondents supported increased funding for public libraries, it is probably not a surprise that a solid majority of library bond proposals in last week’s election met with success.
Those initiatives included a $26 million bond to renovate and expand the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library in Las Cruces; and a ballot issue in Grand County, Colorado maintaining taxes for library facility improvements.
Altogether, according to the Riverside, Illinois-based group Every Library, voters approved 41 out of 60 library funding proposals, with those proposals specific to either a single library or a general library district.
“We celebrate every victory and we take every loss seriously because we know what’s at stake for our readers and families,” remarked John Chrastka, executive director of Every Library, in the wake of the contests.
Added Chrastka: “Strong libraries don’t happen by accident. They happen because people organize, show up, and make the case for their libraries.”
Voters in Garfield County, Colorado, by a two-to-one margin, supported extension of a 2.5 million property tax levy to be used for library facility upkeep; while, state-wide, voters in New Mexico overwhelmingly approved a General Obligation bond of $19 million for library facilities across the Land of Enchantment.
In Austin, by a margin of 59% to 41%, voters gave their approval to a $36 million proposal to fund the planning, design, and building of two local libraries.
One of the most significant defeats was seen in Garland County, Arkansas, where voters rejected a $34.8 million bond for land acquisition and library construction. Upwards of 60% of voters in Aurora, Colorado, similarly turned down $12.6 million tax increase, revenues of which would be relegated in part to library facility work.
In attempting to explain the defeat of some of the library bond proposals the publication Library Journal remarked: “The same financial concerns that drove the majority-Democratic vote, with people increasingly protective of their tax dollars, translated to some reluctance about new and increased tax levies.”
November 13, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
