WATERVILLE -- Donald Freeman is bitter about the condition of the Waterville Public Library.

Freeman, 78, has been a patron for about 70 years and goes there from his Burleigh Street home nearly every day.

He said he has seen the 100-year-old, city-owned building deteriorate to the point where it cannot wait another year to be fixed.

The library's capital improvement project is "well-vetted, architecturally sound and critically important to the city," Freeman said Friday. "It's time to get on with it."

Library officials want to renovate the building to the tune of $3.1 million. They have raised more than $600,000 toward the project, which would include installing new heating and air conditioning systems, an elevator and new access on The Concourse side of the building.

The library's front entrance has been closed off for the last several months because it is unsafe; the stacks are inaccessible to people in wheelchairs; the paint is chipping; floor tiles and carpets are old and dirty; and ceilings leak, among other things.

The library is asking the city to fund $1.5 million for the capital project; city officials talked about possibly funding $750,000 as part of the proposed $37 municipal and school budget.

Mayor Paul R. LePage says funding the full amount would likely mean having to raise taxes in a city that already has a high tax rate of $24.90 per $1,000 worth of valuation. The high school and Opera House need major renovations and the Public Works Department needs a new building, he said. People will steer away from moving to a city with such high taxes, he says.

LePage this week issued a challenge to library officials: Raise $1.5 million and the city will match it, but only if the operating budget be increased three percent instead of the proposed 21 percent.

The current $365,000 budget would be increased to $444,000, at 21 percent. Councilors could vote to fund more than that, but LePage said he would veto the move.

Much of the proposed 21 percent increase in the operating budget reflects the library's request to restore an adult services librarian position that was eliminated a few years ago.

With library usage way up -- it gets 144,000 visits per year, the position is important, Freeman says.

He is very angry that LePage will not recommend the full $1.5 million for the library, saying he thinks the mayor has a personal vendetta against the library, the library's director, Sarah Sugden, her staff and the more than 11,000 patrons.

"I'm one of those patrons and I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Freeman said. "It's way past time for him to stop playing the neighborhood bully in a public forum. I was an early supporter of Paul LePage when he ran for mayor and I'm physically sickened by his behavior toward this worthy project. At 78 and in poor health, I really don't have the time left for any of this crap."

At the library Friday morning, Barbara Meyer of Mercer voiced a less angry sentiment, but said the city owns the building and should fix it.

"The city should really be responsible for a good part of the maintenance," she said. "Times are bad so everyone is cutting back but on the other hand, you've got to have libraries, to be literate and your people have to be encouraged to read and sometimes the only place they can get that encouragement is at the library."

Meyer said she has patronized the library nearly 20 years, and staff members go out of their way to help her.

"Maybe there's a compromise there somewhere, but if the city owns the building, are you going to let it fall down over your head?"

In the children's room in the basement, children's librarian Kathleen Kenney was conducting a rhyme time with babies and toddlers and their parents and guardians. She read stories aloud and the group sang and recited rhymes.

Retired teachers Peter and Ellen Tompkins of Winslow were taking part in the program with their grandson, Alexander.

Peter Tompkins said library programs are vital and have helped their grandson to develop and mature.

"Very wise decisions have to be made on the parts of all people," he said, regarding library funding. "We may not be able to get everything we need and want at this time but there has to be a way of reaching those goals."

Ellen Tompkins said she would like to see a compromise reached.

"As former teachers we both realize the importance of books and libraries and the earlier that you get children involved, the better off they are," she said. "We also have to be good stewards of taxpayers' money, so it's a balancing act."

Waterville resident Lauren Sterling offered some suggestions for helping to fund the library project, including postponing the public works building project by one or two years and increasing the $750,000 recommended.

"If nothing else, that would pay for the elevator, plus a few other infrastructure needs," she said.

Other ideas Sterling offered: requesting a one-time property tax increase of $2 or $3 to offset capital costs; launching a library fee structure temporarily until the campaign is completed; and hosting a fundraising event with Maine writers, including Stephen King, Richard Russo and Gerry Boyle.

"An event like this hosted at Colby College could bring in $75,000 easily in my opinion," $75 per ticket for 1,000 people, Sterling said.

Thomas and Colby College students could have a library drive in which each student donates $5; and children in schools could raise money through a read-a-thon, Sterling suggests.

"All of this would total approximately $1,003,500. Then the city would have to match it and this would just about do it."

Amy Calder -- 861- 9247

acalder@centralmaine.com