Library Director Cheryl Heywood talks with District 1 Commissioner Edna Fund during a public meeting Monday afternoon at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis.
Lewis County commissioners meet with leadership of Timberland Regional Library during a public meeting Monday afternoon at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis.
District 1 Commissioner Edna Fund talks with Library Director, Cheryl Heywood during a public meeting Monday afternoon at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis.
Timberland Regional Library board member Hal Blanton attends a public meeting Monday afternoon at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis.
Timberland Regional Library board president Brian Zylstra attends a public meeting Monday afternoon at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis.
Timberland Regional Library finance manager Eric Lowell attends a public meeting Monday afternoon at the Historic Courthouse in Chehalis.
Lewis County commissioners met with Timberland Regional Library leaders Monday in a meeting called to address the mistrust that has plagued the system since its now-abandoned proposal to close a third of the system’s libraries went public this fall — but officials and the public left the gathering with renewed concerns about Timberland’s transparency.
County commissioners asked for the meeting following the firestorm surrounding Timberland’s Capital Facilities Proposal, which would have closed all three libraries in East Lewis County. The document was created out of the public eye, and emails obtained by The Chronicle show TRL staffers were silenced when they tried to warn their patrons.
While the meeting was a start, said commissioner Edna Fund, it needs to become a matter of course, with Timberland leaders making themselves accessible more consistently throughout the district.
“We have a wildfire still out there — it’s still here,” she said. “There needs to be some questioning done. The folks in the trenches are very unhappy. You have the public who has lost trust. … You still have people here with a lot of questions. Hold some meetings throughout the district. Transparency is the word.”
Library Director Cheryl Heywood handled most of the questions from commissioners, concerning circulation and budget numbers, costs at the Service Center and operating hours. A month ago, Fund called for the ouster of Heywood in the wake of the closure proposal, but Monday’s interactions were more firm than fiery.
The most testy exchange came when Timberland leaders explained that the library manager position at Winlock had been left out of the 2019 budget following the departure of the previous manager. That role is currently being served by a staffer on an interim basis. TRL is still reviewing its options, such as sharing a manager with Chehalis or Salkum.
“You made a decision about the funding,” said commissioner Bobby Jackson. “That tells me you already had something in mind. … Being under review is not acceptable, because you’ve already made the decision not to fund it.”
Heywood replied that Timberland was hoping to have a solution early next year, but Jackson was not satisfied.
“What’s your backup plan?” he said. “If none of those options work, what is your backup plan for Winlock?”
Winlock again became an issue after Fund asked if any Lewis County libraries would be losing hours “at this point.” Heywood responded quickly: “No.”
Fund was addressing rumors, posted on the “Alt TRL” Facebook page, that Winlock and Salkum will be losing a day of open hours.
“So there’s no truth to the matter that they’re going to lose one of their library open days?” Fund asked.
Heywood said Timberland was “still reviewing” its options.
“We are currently reviewing the hours at Winlock,” she said. “They have not even been brought to our Facilities Committee yet.”
While it’s true that any hours adjustments are still preliminary before being approved by the Timberland board, Heywood did not mention the fact that a specific proposal is in the works to cut back hours at Winlock and Salkum. Public Services Manager Allison Grubbs, who was among the TRL leaders at the meeting, is listed in a document obtained by The Chronicle as its sponsor.
Centralia library staffer Kelly Walker spoke up during the public comment portion of the meeting to say that Heywood had used technicalities to be willfully misleading.
“You were asked by all the commissioners here about whether there would be any hours changing or anything like that,” she said. “We received an email regarding plans for Winlock and Salkum that included them being closed for a(n additional) day each week. Speaking with staff at both of them, that’s what they were told was happening. If it’s changed, that’s wonderful, but your staff would love to know. If that’s still on the table, I’m a little bit disturbed that when you’re being asked about your thinking and your planning, and if that is a consideration, that it’s not being brought up.”
According to an email of meeting notes about the reduced hours obtained by The Chronicle, a Lewis County manager told some staff members on Dec. 5 that Timberland leaders said “implementation is tentatively planned for February,” pending public notice and the approval of the board.
Salkum would be closed Wednesdays and Winlock would be closed Thursdays under the changes outlined in that document. Both would be reduced to 32 open hours a week, Salkum dropping from 35 and Winlock from 38.
Both Fund and commissioner-elect Gary Stamper — whose district includes all three Lewis County libraries on the closure list — said following the meeting that they wanted more answers on Winlock, Salkum and potential adjustments going forward.
“That is frustrating to me,” Fund said. “Hearing that they’re going to take one day off — it’s kind of odd to hear one side and then the other side. I’d like to know, where are we here? Maybe by this discussion they won’t take an open day away from Winlock. Where is the reality between both of these?”
Stamper said he was hopeful that the public outcry over the closure proposal would lead Timberland’s leadership to provide answers on Winlock and Salkum faster than news reached the public about closures this fall.
“This is going to be on the forefront,” he said. “The question will be asked, and because of this past year’s situation, there’s not going to be any confusion. Those questions will need to get answered.”
After reviewing the hours cutback proposal Tuesday morning, Fund said she found it “shocking” that Heywood had played coy when asked about library hours when such a specific proposal existed.
“It feels like a replay from the Randle situation,” she said. “There is reality and, on the opposite side of the coin, there is what is said to the public.”
Most of the meeting was consumed by commissioners and TRL leadership digesting paperwork the Lewis County leaders had asked for. Documents provided by Timberland show that circulation has mostly dropped over the last decade in Lewis County, along with overall library visits, though digital downloads have increased.
“This pattern of decreasing physical checkouts and increasing digital checkouts is not unique to Lewis County,” Heywood said. “It’s not unique to (Timberland).”
Heywood and her team also addressed concerns about costs associated with the Service Center that houses TRL leadership in Tumwater, including a renovation that was rumored to cost $1 million. That number was closer to $26,000, said Facilities Manager LG Nelson.
Nelson was one of several TRL leaders who joined Heywood, including Finance Manager Eric Lowell, Communications Manager Jeff Kleingartner and Grubbs. Timberland’s Lewis County trustees, Brian Zylstra and Hal Blanton, attended as well.
Lowell explained, following by a query from Fund, that TRL’s leadership team follows the same “steps and grades” of salary increases as the rest of the system’s staff. Fund said several of the leadership team’s raises “raised people’s eyebrows” in the 2019 budget. Heywood responded that one of those employees had taken on additional responsibilities and another had competitive employment offers elsewhere. Lowell was able to negotiate a robust starting salary because he had been well-compensated for less responsibilities at his previous job in city government.
Speaking later in the meeting, Walker said those explanations represented a double standard.
“I know that library managers with library experience have tried to negotiate when they’re hired on and been told no,” she said. “When I was hired, I had library experience, but I was hired at the lowest step. I was told that’s the way it is. It feels like there’s two policies, one for administration and one for everybody else.”
Most of the tension during the meeting came during the public comment portion, when several residents had more overt criticism for Timberland’s leadership.
“My problem going forward is trust. We don’t trust you anymore,” said Centralia resident Judy Bell. “How can you go forward when there’s no trust? You ought to think about resigning or being fired.”
Peggy Barth made a similar statement.
“I don’t feel that transparency is there unless we have to yell about it as long as we possibly can,” she said. “If I had someone like this working for me, I would not have them working for me any longer.”
Packwood resident John Squires, who has been a vocal critic of the closure proposal and secretive method in which it was created, said TRL leaders underestimated the backlash they would face when trying to close rural libraries.
“The saddest thing I find about this is this highlights the urban-rural divide,” he said. “We aren’t communicating, we don’t know each other.”
Fund did not repeat her calls for Heywood to be replaced, but when asked if she was satisfied with the answers she’d be given Monday, she said “the proof will be in the pudding” regarding how Timberland’s leadership deals with rural libraries and involves the public in the future.
