Library improvements are on the November ballot

Voters in the county's library district will decide whether to borrow $175 million. Jennifer Cirillo, Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department director, and Doug Crane, Palm Beach County Library System director, led a Town Hall at the Lantana Branch Library to discuss capital projects and the bonds on November's ballot that would help pay for them. (Photo: Janis Fontaine/Stet) The directors of Palm Beach County's library system and its parks are on the road for the next two months pitching bonds that will appear on the November ballot. The library is asking for $175 million. The parks department wants $280 million. About a dozen people attended the first of dozens of town halls Friday at the Lantana Road Branch Library to learn what the bonds would pay for. Meetings are planned countywide. Doug Crane, library director, and Jennifer Cirillo, Parks and Recreation Department director, spoke and answered questions at the hourlong gathering. Coming next week: Stet's look at the county's proposed $280 million park bond. Crane said the library bond money would help build a new main library and renovate other locations. 'One of our biggest needs is to upgrade our main library on Summit Boulevard. It's our oldest building. It opened in 1972, and it's been expanded three times, but after 55 years, the building is really reaching the end of its useful life. We've been patching it up, doing some renovations, but it really is too small to be a good main library,' Crane said. The proposal is to build the new building next to the existing library. In February, the County Commission approved the concept. The two-story $150 million library would occupy 150,000 square feet, triple the size of the existing library building. Palm Beach County has the smallest main library among the six biggest systems in Florida, Crane said. One of the state's largest counties, which uses the tagline 'The best of everything,' should have a library to match, he said. An event space big enough for 600 guests and accessible outside of library operating hours would fill central county's need for free, sizable meeting space. A new technology center would feature a recording studio. An AI lab would be added, with more study rooms and conference rooms equipped with video and smart boards. Museum-style exhibit space and public art would be included. Outside, a park-like space would provide a place for play, study and events. Canyon Branch Library west of Boynton Beach. (Photo: Carolyn DiPaolo/Stet) 'We need funding to run these capital projects,' Crane said. To illustrate rising costs, he said the Acreage Branch Library cost $400 a square foot when it opened in 2012. The Canyon Branch Library, which opened in 2025, came in at nearly $1,000 per square foot. The $31 million, 33,000-square-foot, steel-white Canyon Branch west of Boynton Beach is the 18th location in the Palm Beach County Library System. The library system's plan calls for building the 19th branch, a much smaller structure, on Federal Highway in Hypoluxo. That project is in the planning stage; library leaders want to break ground next year and open in 2028. The Palm Beach County Library branch planned on Federal Highway in Hypoluxo. (Rendering: Palm Beach County Library System) Money for operations and construction comes from a variety of sources. The library district taxes property owners in the unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County, along with those living in 24 of the county's 39 municipalities. That pays for some capital projects. Those 24 municipalities are: Atlantis, Belle Glade, Briny Breezes, Cloud Lake, Glen Ridge, Greenacres, Haverhill, Hypoluxo, Juno Beach, Jupiter, Jupiter Inlet Colony, Lake Clarke Shores, Loxahatchee Groves, Mangonia Park, Ocean Ridge, Pahokee, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach Shores, Royal Palm Beach, South Bay, South Palm Beach, Tequesta, Wellington and Westlake. Property owners in the library district pay 51 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, a rate that has stayed the same as property values have risen. If the library bonds are approved, property owners in the library district will see a library debt line on their tax bill. The amount would be an estimated 6 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The county tapped development impact fees to help pay for the Canyon Branch. 'We have enough money to do yearly operations, and the additional money, we put it into our capital projects,' Crane said, which includes maintaining the 18 libraries. Wellington and Lantana Road branches underwent renovations from 2020 to 2022. Design work for a renovation of the Okeechobee Boulevard Branch has begun, and upgrades to the Hagen Ranch Road Branch are being planned. 'Our last bond expired in 2015, so we've been funding without a bond since then,' Crane said. In June, county commissioners set the proposed bond amount at $175 million. To pass, the bond issue requires a simple majority of 50%. Two previous bond issues passed easily: In 1986, library improvements drew 67% support, and in 2002, 69% approved. But this year the proposal is likely to encounter anti-tax sentiment embodied in Amendment 3, the Legislature's effort to reduce property taxes on primary homes. Election Day is Nov. 3. Palm Beach County officials will try to answer voters' questions about the future of the county's libraries and parks at meetings across the county: Residents can attend at any location. Registration is requested at www.pbclibrary.org. Hagen Ranch Road Branch – Tuesday, Sept. 8, 4-5 pm Canyon Branch – Tuesday, Sept. 8, 6-7 pm Greenacres Branch – Wednesday, Sept. 9, 6-7 pm Okeechobee Boulevard Branch – Friday, Sept. 11, 2-3 pm Acreage Branch – Monday, Sept. 14, 6-7 pm Loula V. York Branch – Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2-3 pm Clarence E. Anthony Branch – Wednesday, Sept. 16, 4-5 pm Belle Glade Branch – Wednesday, Sept. 16, 6-7 pm Main Library – Thursday, Sept. 17, 6-7 pm Wellington Branch – Tuesday, Sept. 22, 6-7 pm West Boca Branch – Wednesday, Sept. 23, 4-5 pm Glades Road Branch – Wednesday, Sept. 23, 6-7 pm Royal Palm Beach Branch – Monday, Sept. 28, 2-3 pm Gardens Branch – Monday, Sept. 28, 6-7 pm West Boynton Branch – Friday, Oct. 2, 2-3 pm Tequesta Branch – Monday, Oct. 5, 2-3 pm Jupiter Branch – Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2-3 pm Okeeheelee Nature Center – Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6-7 pm