In June, the Columbia City Council and the Boone County Commissioners approved the Columbia and Boone County Library Districts’ request to unify the two districts into one library district. The two districts set the same operational tax rate on August 24, which is the last step needed for the merger to take place. This is the culmination of much planning and discussion since the Daniel Boone Regional Library Board of Trustees voted to include this merger in its 2009–2017 Strategic Plan.
What does this mean for you?
Since we already provide services as a regional system, you won’t notice a difference in your library experience. Primarily, the merger affects the governance of the library by getting rid of the district boundaries and simplifying the board structure. After the unification, one board of trustees will represent the City of Columbia and Boone County instead of two. (The exception is the City of Centralia, which has its own separate city library district with its own tax rate.)
The new library district will be called the Columbia and Boone County Library District and will operate along with the Callaway County Library District as the Daniel Boone Regional Library system. If all goes as planned, the new unified district will go into effect January 1, 2018.