Library officials announced late last week that they will place a $2.99 million bond issue before voters in a special election scheduled for Feb. 28.

The funds would pay for a new library on 158th Street, inside Prairie Gardens subdivision.

“The solution to our problems is a new building,” library director Carla Kaiser said. “We believe we have addressed the concerns in our survey responses and that this is the right thing to do.”

This is the second bond issue proposed by the library in two years. A $3.79 million bond issue was defeated in April 2004.

Library officials carefully crafted the current proposal by taking into account public feedback gleaned from surveys of patrons in late 2004, Kaiser said. The payback for a successful bond issue is well worth the cost, she added.

“We’ll have a building that will address all the space needs we have,” Kaiser said. “It will allow us to have more books, materials and services for every age group. It will allow us to get up to standards and provide much more that we can at our present location.”

There are some major differences between next month’s bond issue and the question that voters rejected in 2004, most notably in square footage and cost. The current proposal has been trimmed in both categories.

The building size has been reduced from 21,000 square feet to approximately 13,400 square feet.

The cost has also been tightened by $800,000.