Library system’s Facilities Committee will recommend rejecting proposal

Proposal released last week is “a starting point” and many more meetings, including to gather public input, are expected.

By Michael Lang The Vidette • October 4, 2018 1:30 am
Members of the Timberland Regional Library’s Facilities Committee meet with TRL staff Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, at TRL offices in Tumwater. Corby Varness, second from right, expressed frustration at the way a Capitol Facilities Proposal had been made public during the meeting.
Members of the Timberland Regional Library’s Facilities Committee meet with TRL staff Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, at TRL offices in Tumwater. Corby Varness, second from right, expressed frustration at the way a Capitol Facilities Proposal had been made public during the meeting.

By Michael Lang

The Vidette

The Timberland Regional Library’s Facilities Committee will recommend to the full Timberland Board of Trustees that it reject the Capital Facilities Proposal released last week.

Corby Varness — a Montesano resident, TRL board member and chairwoman of the Facilities Committee — said during the committee’s emergency meeting Wednesday in Tumwater that she doesn’t “recognize the proposal as a valid document” and that it is “not actionable.”

The proposal caused an uproar because its authors recommend closing several branches, including in Amanda Park, Hoquiam and Montesano. Of the eight TRL-owned buildings listed in the proposal, four would be closed and likely sold if this proposal were enacted. The proposal also would close four of the 19 city-owned or TRL-leased buildings. Hoquiam is in that classification.

Phase II of the proposal would seek new library buildings in Lacey, Olympia and Raymond.

“There are hard decisions that have to be made if we want to reach more people and live within our means,” TRL finance manager Eric Lowell said Thursday. “This (proposal) is like a starting point.”

The full board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the Administrative Service Center, 415 Tumwater Blvd. SW, in Tumwater. An agenda was not made public as of Thursday, Oct. 4.

“Our recommendation (to the board) is to reject the proposal as it stands and use it as a background document of things to consider,” Varness said Thursday. “I’m eager to move forward and start working in the committee. And the Budget Committee has a lot of work to do and deal with possible budget shortfalls.”

Lowell said those shortfalls are expected to add up to $700,000.

TRL also has had issues with buildings in need of repairs. The South Bend branch is closed because of “health and safety issues” with the building, Varness said.

In a release Thursday afternoon, a TRL spokeswoman said the Hoquiam branch would close for about six weeks for repairs beginning Thursday, Oct. 11. The release states the book drop box will remain in use and items on hold can be picked up at the Aberdeen library. Repairs being made include replacing some doors and light fixtures as well as installing new flooring and windows.

“We’ve got these old buildings that need a lot of work,” Lowell said. “These communities are not flush with money. Their priority is public safety or roads. We’re not seeing responsiveness of taking care of building issues.”

But after the proposal was released, the board certainly is getting responses from communities worried about losing libraries.

While the public was not involved in the development of the proposal, they will be able to offer input as the proposal is evaluated.

Lowell says he expects members of the library administration team to visit each county at least twice for public meetings.

John Hughes, a past publisher and editor at The Daily World and former Hoquiam library trustee, said the Hoquiam library “is a crown jewel of the Timberland Regional Library system.”

“When I’m in there, I see kids doing schoolwork. I see people having community programs.”

He’s passionate about libraries in rural communities and expects TRL to use the release of the proposal as a learning moment.

“The Hoquiam Timberland Library is a huge part of the identity of Hoquiam, Washington,” he said. “I think that what our urban neighbors forget is that communities like Montesano, Hoquiam, South Bend — that were hard hit in the spotted owl set-asides and the logging downturn — that the libraries are a place of refuge and shared community.

“To me, to close one of the rural libraries that are so central to the community, there has to be a better way. … And I hope they learn that if they make their patrons partners in making tough decisions that it makes everybody stronger.”