BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- The Massena Public Library will again attempt to transition to a school district library.

According to Town Board Member Adrian Taraska, a vote was held recently to move forward with the transition.

"They voted to change the public library’s name to Henry H. Warren Memorial Library for the proposition instead of Massena Public Library, which it is now,” Taraska said.

According to Taraska, the library would need to raise $679,990 separate and apart from school district appropriations.

According to the current town budget, the library is funded by the town to the tune of $504,133 this year. An additional $9,000 comes from the town of Louisville to cover the library's operating costs.

But the transition is not a sure thing as the move would be finalized through permissive referendum.

“If that goes through, basically the town does not have to fund the library or appoint their trustees. Anybody who lives in the Massena Central School District, whether they own a business or home, will have an extra line for what they call a school library tax. It’s a separate line item (on their tax bill),” Town Supervisor Sue Bellor told board members at a recent meeting.

If the vote were successful, residents that live within the Massena Central School District would all be responsible for paying for the library's expenses through school taxes.

Along with Massena, the district also encompasses parts of Brasher, Louisville and Norfolk.

A petition is currently circulating that must be submitted to the school district, which will then trigger a vote this spring.

This isn't the first time the library has attempted to transition to a school district library.

Voters in the towns of Brasher and Norfolk were resistant to the previous attempt and shot it down by a vote of 1,640 to 892.