Ross residents could vote as soon as May on whether their community should remain a financial supporter of Northland Public Library.

Commissioners this week agreed to have voters decide through a referendum whether the township should withdraw from or remain part of the regional institution.

The library, which opened in 1968 -- at that time on Three Degree Road in Ross -- gets its local funding from Ross and four other North Hills communities. Northland's building is now on Cumberland Road in McCandless.

Commissioners President Daniel DeMarco and Commissioner Chris Eyster will draft the referendum question to be presented to the voters. It will be reviewed by solicitor Bonnie Brimmeier before it is placed on the ballot.

Mr. Eyster proposed the citizens' vote on whether Ross should stay in the system at the commissioners' business meeting on Monday night. The library also serves McCandless, Franklin Park, Marshall and Bradford Woods.

Mr. Eyster said he favored Ross' continued support of the library, but that he wanted taxpayers to make the final decision. Should a majority of voters agree that the township should withdraw, the community would have to give four years' notice to the library board.

Commissioners last month approved the library's $2.4 million budget for 2010 on a narrow 5-4 vote. Ross's share next year will be $415,078. The vote came after the library board agreed to continue to fund weekly bookmobile stops in Marshall and Ross. Several Ross commissioners protested the proposed end of bookmobile service, saying it was the main contact many residents had with the library.

Kate Pavelle, of Isolda Drive, offered her support for the library. She estimated that her family of four saves several hundred dollars on books and DVDs that it can borrow for free from the library.

Her ability to research business information, sometimes using databases she could not afford herself, is worth thousands of dollars, she estimated.

"It is not politically popular to talk about tax increases, but I ask you all to be brave," she said.

The library is a public asset, she said. Giving up library service could hurt home values, she warned.

Ross is facing a budget battle for 2010 with expenses outpacing revenues.

Last month Commissioner Lana Mazur proposed giving the library board immediate notice of the township's intention to withdraw. That motion was tabled, and Mr. Eyster this week proposed the referendum as an alternative.

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