Vote on library renovation

Among the issues facing Special Town Meeting voters on Sept. 26 is whether to fund part of a planned renovation to the Shrewsbury Public Library. The request to raise taxes through a Proposition 2 1/2 override would also require approval by a townwide vote. The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has awarded Shrewsbury an approximately $8 million grant to help pay for the estimated $18.5 million project, but the grant is not expected to be delivered until the summer of 2014. The state placed the Shrewsbury Public Library eighth on its grant-recipient waiting list in July. According to Ellen Dolan, library director, the question before the town is whether it will fund renovations now, so that they can start sooner than 2014, via a pair of debt-exclusion votes. Dolan said the town would have to borrow the entire project cost, and then about half of that $18.5 million amount would be reimbursed when the $8 million state grant arrives in 2014. Special Town Meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Oak Middle School. If the request passes, the special town election would be held on Oct. 18. - James O’Brien