MAGNOLIA SPRINGS — Magnolia Springs Public Library will begin the new year with a check.

That’s because during its regular meeting last week, the Magnolia Springs Town Council voted to provide the library with $9,000 in funding for the 2013 fiscal year, with the expenditure being broken down into quarterly payments of $2,500. According to the resolution enacting the funding, the first of those installments will be issued on Wednesday, Jan. 2, with the remaining three distrubted on April 1, July 1 and Sept. 30.

“We’re helping them in just about covering their rent and utilities,” Magnolia Springs Town Councilman Ben Dykemas said Monday.

He explained that since taking office on the Council in November, he has served as liaison between the library and Council, and doing so has impressed him with the facility.

“There’s a lot going on there that I never knew about,” Dykemas said. “They have over a thousand transactions a month.”

Magnolia Springs Mayor Ken Underwood echoed those sentiments.

“I think Magnolia Springs is a community that would support a library,” he said. “I do think it is an asset and makes a statement about Magnolia Springs.”

Magnolia Springs Town Councilman Tom Webb said the library has benefitted his mother-in-law who has been convalesced at his home.

“She likes certain types of books,” he said, explaining that the Magnolia Springs Public Library supplies her with reading material during her convalescence.

“At the same time, it’s a luxury,” Dykemas added, saying he supported funding the library as long as it was financially feasible.

Also last week, the Council voted to increase the fee for processing business licenses by $2, which will make the fee $12, effective Jan. 1. Underwood explained that doing so would increase municipal revune by $600 to $700 per year.