Denver City Wire

It'll be up to Denver voters to decide whether to raise their taxes in order to have improved services at the Denver Public Library, including an increase in hours the library would be open.

Denver City Council voted 11-1 last month to approve the library's request to have a proposed property tax increase on the ballot for the upcoming November election, Denverite reported.

"The library is kind of that integral cultural institution that everyone in Denver loves and uses and understands the value of," Jolon Clark, Denver's District 7 Councilman, told The Denver Gazette. "We saw during COVID just how important it was to have those backbone civic institutions."

According to Denverite, if approved, the tax increase would generate about $31 million for the Denver Public Library.

Michelle Jeske, Denver City Librarian, talked to City Council about the needs of the Denver Public Library in July.

“The Denver Public Library system is the most visited cultural institution in Denver, with 4 million in-person visits in 2019 -- but we are also underfunded compared to other libraries locally and among our peers nationwide per capita. After conducting 63 community meetings with more than 500 community members, DPL created a new strategic roadmap that focuses on what our growing and changing community needs. Now we need to fund that community-developed plan,” Jeske told the councilmembers, according to Denver Public Library.

Chris Herndon, District 8 Councilman, believes there's a better way to fund the library's plan, including through the annual budget process, according to the Denver Gazette.