Democracy Day never fell out of residents' memories. Frank Mikorski, a former school board member, has been a vocal advocate of bringing Democracy Day back.

"When the school district has its budget, it has to be approved," he said. "When the school district wanted a referendum, it had to be approved by the people. Why should it be any different for the municipality?"

The library plan has been in the works for about four years, and one of its champions has been former Councilwoman Kathleen Thomas, a Democrat, and also a library trustee. But Thomas lost a re-election bid in November, just as the final library plans were about to be unveiled. The election gave the Republican Party a 4-2 majority on the borough council, and the Republicans decided to use the library issue as an opportunity to be Democracy Day back. A vote to do just that passed 4-2, along party lines, in March.

"The Democrats campaigned for years on Democracy Day, anything over $1 million the voters will approve," said Republican Council President Robert Bengivenga Jr. "I'm agreeing with them and obviously they didn't agree this year. I'm just revamping something that they let die."

Bengivenga also pointed out that when the new library first was discussed, cost estimates were closer to $3 million, and a now-defunct state grant program was expected to pay one quarter of the costs.

But what Bengivenga calls a restoration of direct democracy, Thomas calls the misapplication of a good principle.

"I think that Democracy Day is a great idea for projects that haven't yet been started," she said. "(This is) something that's already been started."

The library project is an attempt to solve a space crunch at the 6,330-square-foot library. Library Director Sundra Randolph said books and library materials are stacked anywhere space can be found in the library, and she said the cramped quarters make it difficult for the library to host events.

"The biggest need is the meeting room and the children's craft room," Randolph said. "Anytime we have any kind of program, it's got to be out there in the middle room or it has to be on a Tuesday or Friday night when we're closed."

To solve that problem, library officials want to build a new, two-story, 15,000-square-foot library on a three-quarter-acre lot just down the street from the library's current location on Plainfield Ave. The new location would be just northwest of the South Plainfield Funeral Home, which is at 2456 Plainfield Ave.

There will be financial ramifications no matter what happens at the polls this week. The borough already has spent about $800,000 on the project in the form of architectural and engineering fees, and the purchase of the land.

Randolph said that $290,000 of that spent money is money loaned to the borough by the library's foundation. If the library isn't built, that money would need to be paid back.

If the library proposal does pass, the potential tax impact for a resident living in a home assessed at the borough's average assessed value of $117,200 would pay an extra $30 per year. But Thomas said much the tax impact will be blunted because the new debt will come as older borough debt is retired.

But Anthony Mondoro, a former Democratic council member, said he's mainly concerned with the proposed location of the library. He's looked over the plans and says library officials are trying to squeeze the building on to a too-small plot. Among other concerns, he believes the building won't be set far enough back from the curb, and that the 22 planned parking spots won't be sufficient.

Plans do call for a sidewalk to connect the new library lot to overflow parking at the municipal building.

Mondoro believes the borough could find a more suitable site, or expand the current library. Thomas said the latter is impossible because the current library lies in a flood plain, where building would be disallowed by state regulators. But Mondoro said other building has already occurred in the neighborhood, at elevations lower than the library's.

Mondoro, who was out of office by the time the first Democracy Day was held, said he isn't just opposed to the planned library, he's also opposed to Democracy Week.

"I feel the people who are appointed, who are elected to the job, should do the job and they should understand all the issues, they should look at the pros and cons," he said. "I don't think many of the people who are going to vote on this issue really know the story of the library."

But Democracy Week will go ahead. And even though the vote is nonbinding, the entire council agreed during a meeting in March that if the proposal passes, they will fund it. The council's two Democrats, Joseph Scrudato and Raymond Petronko, said they support the library regardless of the vote.

Polls will be open Monday through Saturday, except Wednesday. Tuesday and Thursday voting will be open until 8 p.m. Residents must bring a photo ID and be registered to vote or listed as a property taxpayer in order to vote.

New borough Clerk Joann Graf said the Department of Public Works built a special voting box for the event. Ballots have also been made up, asking voters to vote "Yes' or "No' on the library, but also asking them to leave comments about the library, or any other issue on their mind.

"I'm excited to see the comments becuase "Yes' or "No' that's one thing, but the real meat of it and what I see Democracy Day being is the comments," Graf said.

Graf said she expects the heaviest turnout on the first and last days of voting. When polls close Saturday at 3 p.m., Graf said officials will begin counting the votes, with representatives from the library and council observing.

Randolph said she's prepared no matter what voters - and borough council - decide. But she said being at the center of the return of Democracy Day isn't exactly a comfortable spot.

"I don't consider the library political at all," she said. "As long as I've been director here, we as a library in particular and even the trustees have really tried to stay out of politics."

Jared Kaltwasser can be reached at (908) 707-3137 or jkaltwasser@mycentraljersey.com.