Barrington library officials want to know what went wrong on Nov. 4

Barrington Area Library officials will take a breath before trying to figure out why voters rejected a $34.3 million referendum to expand and upgrade the library.

At their first meeting since Election Day, library trustees decided Monday to meet as a committee-of-the-whole in January to think about what the next step should be.

"Until we learn a little more, we don't know what we're doing wrong," board President Richard Ryan said.

Library officials want to identity and respond to the reasons voters soundly rejected the plan last week. What's still undecided is exactly how citizens will be polled. Ryan suggested it could take the form of a telephone survey of the community.

The means of finding the public's opinion is another matter likely to be finalized at the January committee meeting, Executive Director Detlev Pansch said.

Trustees will set the date of this special January meeting at their next regular meeting in December.

There were 10,508 votes against the library's expansion proposal, or 59 percent, and 7,445 in support of it.

Campaigners said the owners of a $500,000 house in the library district would likely have paid $85 to $90 more a year in property tax if the proposal had been approved.

The plans called for the addition of 53,000 square feet to the library and such amenities as a children's pavilion, coffee shop, meeting rooms, a quiet adult area, outdoor programming space and a 24-hour service window.

Environmentally friendly features like green roofs, rain gardens and "geo-exchange" wells to heat and cool the library more efficiently were also part of the proposal.