“Citizens for the Library” to Hold Kick-off Event Friday

Citizens for the Library will hold its kick-off event Friday at the Natrona County Public Library. The group will officially launch its campaign to add a measure to the November ballot that, if passed, would add a one cent sales tax to fund a new $29.7 million library for the city of Casper.

Those with the group say the $29.7 million will go entirely toward the new library’s construction and $4.5 million in operations and maintenance costs.

Campaign chairperson John Masterson says the sales tax increase will expire the moment the new library is fully funded.

“That tax goes away - it expires on its own terms,” Masterson said. “It isn’t a tax that anybody has the power to extend beyond the point where it raises the money in the measure itself.”

The over-100-year-old library has seen multiple renovations throughout its history, with its last significant renovation coming when Casper’s population was near the 35,000-person mark. Masterson says there’s a critical need for a new library in Casper.

“Frankly the library is landlocked at its location, it can’t expand any further” Masterson said. “The number of people who are now using it has climbed dramatically in the last 20 years.”

“We just need a library that can accommodate the needs and demands it has now,” Masterson said.

Masterson and other group officials will speak at the kick-off event Friday. The event will start at 11:00 a.m. Friday on the library’s first floor.