By Gregg JonesRecord Staff WriterScenic Regional Library System will be seeking its first ever property tax increase this April.Director Steve Campbell said the 10-cent tax levy increase would be used to update technology, add new branches, and provide more services to library patrons.“We are already a pretty poor district when it comes to funding,” he said. “When you consider what we’ve done, people have gotten a lot of bang for the buck.“But we are falling behind and new technology costs money,” Campbell added.The library system serves Gasconade, Warren and Franklin counties with branches in Hermann, Owensville, Union, St. Clair, New Haven, Warrenton and Pacific.Scenic Regional Library has had the same 10-cent operating levy in all three counties since 1959. The library system has never had a tax increase in its entire 55-year history, Campbell said.He said the library district has the third-lowest tax rate in the state — 131st out of Missouri’s 133 public libraries in 2012. Unlike school districts, the library is over 96 percent locally funded. Nearly all of the library’s revenue is received from the local property tax, not state or federal funds.Campbell said some may question the move to double the tax rate, opposed to asking for a 2- or 3-cent increase.“This is the first time we are asking for money in 55 years and I doubt we will ask for money in the next 50 years,” he said.Campbell said an individual or family in Warren County with a house assessed at $110,000 would pay an additional $27.50 a year in library taxes.  The average cost of a new hardcover fiction book is $28.73.The tax levy in Warren County currently raises about $373,000 in taxes, said Campbell.“Of our three counties, we collect the lowest tax rate in Warren County—only 6.84 cents,” he said.Campbell said while the population of Warren County has increased from 8,750 in 1960 to 32,513 in 2010, the library still only has one branch in Warrenton.He said if the measure passes the library would like to place new branches in either Wright City or the southern portion of the county in the Marthasville area, and possibly both places.The library district’s budget would increase from, $2.051 million to $4.8 million. The funds would be used for operations, renovations and expansion of all of the district facilities.Scenic Regional Library conducted a survey last spring that was mailed to 4,500 residents in the three-county area. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said that they want longer service hours, more new material, or expanded facilities. However, the library’s existing revenue does not allow for any of these changes, according to Campbell.Extended HoursMost Scenic Regional branches are closed on Mondays and only open one evening a week. Currently, the library can’t afford the additional staff needed to provide longer service hours (more evening and weekend hours) when most residents are home from work and can visit. If successful, the measure would allow the library to expand service hours at all its locations.“Our hours don’t accommodate people who are working,” he said. “Saturdays we aren’t even open a full day. People normally use the library when they are not at work, and now they are not able to do that.”Technology and ProgramsCampbell said the library system is also beginning to fall behind on technology.“It can’t afford to provide all the services offered by many libraries today,” he said.Those services include downloadable digital magazines, movies, and music; text- and chat-reference service; tablets for checkout; and e-readers which are preloaded with bestsellers and can be checked out. These services would be added with the new revenue, along with many others.In the past year, the library has begun offering free programs at all its branches for teens and adults on a wide range of subjects from gardening and watercolor painting to crocheting and cooking.Area leviesIn the area, most other libraries operate with a higher library levy. Voters in St. Louis County recently increased their county library’s levy to 26 cents. Jefferson County Library has a 20-cent levy; St. Charles City-County Library, 26 cents; Missouri River Regional Library (Jefferson City), 20 cents; and Washington County Library (Potosi), 20 cents. The Missouri State Library’s new Missouri Public Library Standards, which was revised last year, recommends that a public library have a minimum operating levy of 20 cents to provide adequate services.Scenic is a regional library, which means the system is actually an agreement between the Gasconade County Library, Warren County Library, and Franklin County Library. As a result, the library will have a separate ballot measure in each county. The measure could pass in one county and fail in another.FacilitiesMany of the library’s facilities need upgrades and improvements that it cannot afford. The buildings are too small to accommodate increasing program attendance or additional new material. The library’s service population continues to grow and it cannot afford to expand the size of its facilities. In some cases, the library’s facilities are not even handicapped accessible. For example, the library’s New Haven facility was built in 1880 and hasn’t been renovated since the early 1960s. The levy increase would allow the library to significantly improve or expand all of its facilities.Library to seek levy increase