Gov. Gary Locke’s proposal to close the Washington State Library in Olympia as part of an effort to fix a shortfall of $1.2 billion in the state’s biennial budget has public librarians worried. The suggested closure in October would make Washington the only state without a library agency and could forfeit the $3 million in federal LSTA funds the library receives annually for the development and support of public libraries.
George Stratton, director of the North Olympic Library System in Port Angeles, said he was incredulous when he heard of Locke’s proposal. “It was very hard to believe,” he said in the January 29 Peninsula Daily News. “I’m hoping the governor or Legislature will get the message that there are a lot of people who care about libraries, and this is unacceptable.”
Ellensburg Public Library Director Celeste Kline said in the January 31 Ellensburg Daily Record that state grants have accounted for more than $200,000 in support for her library over the past 10 years, including $24,000 now being used to digitize its collection of historic photographs. “That money is actually our federal tax money,” she said.
Debbie DeSoer, director of the Carpenter Memorial Library in Cle Elum, told the Record, “Anytime I have a problem or a question, I can give them a call. They bend over backward to help the smaller libraries. . . . It’s not just the money. It’s the help. I’m the only paid employee here.”
Washington libraries are already feeling the pinch from Initiative 747, passed in November, which limits the growth of property-tax levies to 1% unless voters approve a higher increase. Claudia McCain, associate director for public services of the King County Library System in Seattle, said her library will ask voters February 5 to increase property taxes and eliminate the $2.6 million in cuts created by I-747.
Posted February 4, 2002.