Wrightstown residents vow to save library By Patti Zarling For The News-Chronicle Almost 30 Wrightstown area residents Tuesday offered to donate time, effort and even money to build a few bookshelves, if that's what it takes to save the local branch of the Brown County Library. The library currently is housed in the Village Hall. When the village asked the county to either pay more rent or relocate the library so the village could use the space, some members of the County Board suggested the rural branch be shut down. The branch has county funding through December 2004, so the citizens library committee plans to use those 14 months to seek grants, donations and other means of saving the service. Carla Buboltz, superintendent of the Wrightstown School District and a member of the volunteer library committee, told the Wrightstown Village Board on Tuesday that several local businesses have expressed interest in helping with funding and finding a home for the library in the rural community. She said the committee would like an assurance from the Village Board that the library could remain in the Village Hall for a few months beyond December 2004 if plans for a new site were headed in the right direction. Trustee Keith Block said that likely would not be a problem. But he did say the county should take responsibility for the library. "This really is a political hot potato with a lot of political games," he said. "We view (the library) as an asset to the community, but we view it as a Brown County service - we kind of hope expect or hope the county would continue funding it. "The rent the county is paying already it totally inadequate, so in a way the village already is subsidizing it. They would like us to turn this into a municipal library, and we don't think that's fair." Buboltz agreed. "It's the whole issue of southern Brown County and the services we receive from the county," she said. "We see it as a school district and as a village. But we can't make the inadequacies go away. "They would love to see us (village residents and board members) pointing fingers," Buboltz said. "What we need to do is work together to keep this thing going. I was very pleased to see how many people came tonight and were positive. "The people that were there are ready to get active - they want to get going." Bill Clancy, who represents the Wrightstown area on the County Board, said the proposed cut came as part of the county executive's mandate to trim 10 percent from proposed budgets. "There are only two rural representatives on the board, so there's only so much you can do," Clancy said. "But I think (residents) will be able to get things done."