Bartlett Library Referendum 2026: Two Bonds on Nov 3

By Bartlett Guide · Published October 20, 2026

The Bartlett library referendum 2026 is not one question — it is two. On Tuesday, November 3, voters in the Bartlett Public Library District decide a $22,200,000 bond question to remodel the existing library and build an addition, and a separate $45,000,000 bond question to construct a brand-new library on the same site and demolish the current building. Each proposition gets its own yes-or-no vote, in the district's own ballot wording, published in the DuPage County Clerk's official general election notice. Here is what each one actually says, who gets a say, and how to vote — early voting started October 19, so you do not have to wait for Election Day.

Question 1: the $22.2 million Bartlett library bond — remodel and expand

This is the keep-and-grow option: the current building at 800 S. Bartlett Road stays, gets remodeled, and gains an addition. The Library Board approved this plan and its cost estimate on August 27, alongside the new-building plan below — then put both in front of voters rather than choosing between them itself.

Question 2: the $45 million new library on the same site

Note what this is not: it is not a second location or a branch. The new building would rise on the north side of the same Bartlett Road site, and the existing library would be torn down. FOX 32's Chicago-area referenda guide summarizes the pair the same way — about $22 million for infrastructure improvements, another $45 million for a new library building on the district's north side.

How the two library referendum questions work

• They are independent. The election notice lists two separate propositions, each with its own Yes and No. You can vote yes on one and no on the other — approving either one authorizes the district to issue that amount of bonds.
• Only district residents vote on them. The propositions name the district as "DuPage and Cook Counties" — the library district covers parts of those two counties. Bartlett's Kane County side sits outside the library district, so ballots there will not carry the library questions, even though Kane voters share the same village and the same Election Day.
• The ballot wording carries no tax estimate. Neither proposition states a per-home tax figure, and the coverage we read does not publish one for Bartlett. If the tax math matters to your vote, ask before you cast it: the library answers at 630-837-2855, and the Library Board's next regular meeting is Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the library, 800 S. Bartlett Rd.

For the board-document version of this story — the August resolutions, the budget ordinance adopted September 14, and what each board did next — read this week's Bartlett Briefing, which works only from the boards' own published records.

How to vote on the Bartlett library referendum 2026

• Early, in town (DuPage voters): Bartlett Community Center, 700 S. Bartlett Rd — weekdays 8:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. and weekends 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., through Monday, November 2.
• Early (Cook County voters): the nearest site is the Streamwood Community Development Garage, 351 E. Irving Park Rd, open since October 19.
• By mail: your mail-ballot application must reach your election authority by Thursday, October 29.
• Election Day: Tuesday, November 3 — polls open 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

County-by-county sites, hours, and registration details are in our early voting in Bartlett guide — Bartlett spans three counties, and your ballot only exists at your own county's sites. Everything else on this month's calendar is on the Bartlett events page.

And if the building at the center of this vote is new to you, our Bartlett Public Library guide covers its hours, library cards, study and meeting rooms, printing prices, and digital services — including why some Bartlett addresses belong to a different library district entirely.

Bartlett library referendum 2026: quick questions