To meet the needs of 56,000 residents in a service area comprising 72 square miles, Parkland Community Library plans to construct a new facility on 12 acres in Upper Macungie Township.

Opened in the 1970s, the present 5,000-square-foot library next to the South Whitehall Municipal Complex along Walbert Avenue, has insufficient space for books and other materials, computers, staff, patrons or programs.

At the Aug. 27 Parkland School Board meeting, library board President Karl Siebert reported the library has $3 million in the bank, acquired from savings and fundraising, to apply toward the new building.

Additional funds, however, are needed for the $13 million project for the new 30,000-square-foot library.

To proceed, library representatives asked the school board to authorize a referendum on the Nov. 6 election ballot to adjust the special library tax that has remained unchanged since 1998.

School district Solicitor Steven Miller provided background on the library situation.

The library has no authority to fund itself but depends on income from donations, the state, the school district and the Townships of North Whitehall, South Whitehall and Upper Macungie.

For many years, library personnel approached townships and the school district every year to ask for funds.

In 1998, a referendum was placed on the ballot, and voters approved a special library tax, which stands at 0.1 mill, adjusted after the reassessment but yielding the same amount.

The new referendum proposes to raise the tax to 0.2978 mills to fund increased costs of operations and for debt service toward construction of the new building.

The adjusted tax will support facilities, services and technology.

After the loan is repaid in full, no later than July 1, 2035, the library tax would be reduced to 0.1895 mills.

Miller said the school district is merely a vehicle for the library to use to get the question on the ballot.

Voters will decide if they want to increase the tax.

Board member Roberta Marcus restated Miller's message.

"We are neutral," Marcus said. "It is the responsibility of the voter to make the decision about the tax increase."

Board members voted 7-1 to grant approval for the library referendum to move forward.

Barry Long voted no. Bob Bold was absent.

After the county board of elections approves the referendum, the library will swing into action to publicize it, Siebert said.

He said a political action committee is already working to build awareness of the ballot resolution.

If voters approve the tax adjustment, groundbreaking will take place in March 2014. Construction is expected to take 12-14 months.

Siebert said the library board is planning to keep the present building in service after the new one is built.

"It may have shorter hours, but we want to keep it open, Siebert said. "We factored this in to our budget.

"We want to see how we can best serve the community through the new library and the existing one."