Over 60 people filled the Community Center meeting space, with those in attendance heavily supporting continued funding of the library.

Recently the City of Hanska had concerns about the city expense of running the library. The council decided to hold a special informational meeting to inform residents of the rising operating cost ahead of approving 2025 funding.

The special meeting was also designed to take input from the public. Members of the public who commented during the meeting favored keeping funding for the library and its program even if it resulted in higher taxes.

The meeting began with a breakdown of the Hanska library budget. For 2024, Hanska library’s budgeted operating expense is $35,735.

The Hanska Community Library, located at 109 Broadway, was the subject a special city council meeting Tuesday. The city has questions about whether to continue funding the library beyond 2024.

The city receives $18,350 from the Brown County Library Levy. This money is raised by the county and distributed evenly among all libraries in the county. Another $3,450 is received from special donations from library events. The library takes in $350 from fees, sales and reimbursements.

The remaining $13,600 is paid from Hanska’s city budget.

Hanska City Clerk/Treasurer Cinnamon Moldan said if the city does not receive the $3,450 in donations, the cost to Hanska’s budget is $17,050.

Costs are anticipated to rise next year. The proposed 2025 budget will see the city’s share for the library increase to $18,300. This is assuming no library donations are received to offset costs in 2025. Moldan said the city must make a budget based on income on hand and donations are not guaranteed income.

The $18,300 would represent 5.5% of Hanska’s overall expenses in 2025 and 10.7% of the general levy.

Moldan said in a bigger city with a larger population these increases would not have a great impact, but in a smaller town like Hanska it could be a big increase and was the reason for this informational meeting.

After the budget information, Interim Library Director Angela Pick spoke on recent library activities. The previous library director resigned in late December. Pick volunteered to act as library director without pay until a placement could found.

Pick said her first action of interim director was to change the library hours from to 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Previously the library was open during the school hours, meaning kids could not attend.

Pick said as soon as the hours change, attendance increased. She said from Feb. 1 to April 1 of 2023, there were 102 visits. Following the change of library, during the same two months the attendance was 501.

Pick believed the library was valuable as a safe place for kids to go after school and before their parents get home from work. Its also a place for kids to learn.

She told a story of two boys who visited the library and learned how to make a flyer for their lawn mowing business they wish to start this summer.

“Teachable moments like this happen every day,” she said. “I think Hanska needs the library.”

Support for the library was echoed by other speakers.

“The library at its core is about access to information,” said Willie Wurtz. “I believe that is a fundamental right to us as Americans.”

He believed if the library benefited one person, he would be willing to pay the extra taxes.

“We’ve lost the liquor store, we’ve lost the furniture store, we’ve lost the co-op” Wurtz said. “I want the city council to save this at any cost.”

High School student and Hanska library volunteer Erin Hensch said the library is enriching tool for the community.

“The library may not be a primary source of income, but it is a valued source for this community,” She said. “It helps enrich the children of this community and if we start them off on the right path now, it could just make our community a better place.”

Former library director, Darlene Nelson quoted retired admiral William McRaven, who when asked about biggest threat to the USA, said it was K-12 education. “If our children aren’t educated we will not have future national security leaders we need.”

Nelson pushed back against comments in a previous Hanska council meeting that books were a “thing of the past.”

She said in 2023, there were over 4 million new books printed and 65% of adults reported reading at least one book within the last year. Nelson added there was more going on a library than books. She said libraries were place kids learned STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

Longtime Hanska resident Dan Paulson said he believed kids were an important part of Hanska’s infrastructure and he believed the library was giving them something to do and worried what would happen without it.

“I know money is short, but the library is a short fix,” Paulson said. “We’ve got to support our library.”

Courtney Jones praised the work currently being done at the library. She said her 11-year-old son started going to the library two months ago. Jones visited the library herself and impressed with interim director Pick’s work.

“I was in awe in how [Pick] works with the kids. She gets my 11-year-old, who will not crack a book at home, to read” Jones said.

Katelyn Suess said she had seen a lot of kids programming get cut; such as arts and music. She worried taking funding from the library would be another cut.

“Not only are books a window to a vast large world they have yet to see, it is learning,” she said. “We’ve lost so much. If we lose the library, what is left.”

Following public comments, the Hanska City Council clarified they had not officially voted to stop funding the library. The meeting was simply intended to receive public input before approving a tax increase.

“I don’t feel like we are doing our job as a council if we don’t bring it to you,” said city councilor Jason Geiger. “Our vote is based on what you need.”

Geiger admitted he was surprised by the turnout for the meeting, but was pleased with the response.

Councilor Lucas Larson wished to dispel rumors the council was trying to close the library. Larson said said all week he heard people say the council was trying to close the library, but he said that was not the goal.

“We’re not trying to close the library,” Larson said. “I would rather get public input, then put in on property tax and move on.”

The council made no official decision on the library’s funding during the meeting as it was only intended to give information to the public and gather input, however Geiger indicated the city could put the library funding question on an election ballot as a type of referendum.

Geiger said he was willing to continue funding the library if the public wanted it, but was not sure if the rest of the community agreed.

“The only real right way to do it is to put it on the ballot,” Geiger said. “Then everyone has a vote.”

The Hanska City Council could not decided at the information meeting whether library funding would go to voter referendum, but could be discussed at a future Hanska City Council meeting.

The next meeting of the Hanska City Council is 6 p.m. Monday, April 8 on the second floor of the Hanska Community Center. Hanska City Council meetings are 6p.m. the second Monday of the month.

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