Library task force gets up to $75,000

The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners’ OK’d an appropriation of up to $75,000 from the county’s contingency fund for their library task force Wednesday.

County Manager Harry Jones first requested the funds for the task force at an Oct. 19 meeting, but the commissioners deferred the vote until they had more information about how the funding would be used.

At Wednesday’s meeting, task force chairman Jim Woodward outlined some of the group’s expenses, including paying outside firms for project management, conducting surveys and holding public hearings in order to fulfill its mission: determining which county library services are most valued by the public. Since its members are citizen volunteers, Woodward said none of the money would go to any of them.

The task force has already received $150,000 from the Foundations for the Carolinas’ Community Catalyst Fund but is seeking other funding sources; the money from the contingency fund is a fallback in case the task force can find no other funding.

“To do a project of this type, obviously, requires funding,” Woodward said. “(The budget) is in line with what has been required in order to carry out projects such as this in the past.”

Caitlin Coakley can be reached at [email protected].