The Packwood Timberland Library serves residents in the East Lewis County community.
A controversial proposal to close nearly a third of the libraries in the Timberland Regional Library system was rejected Wednesday by the Timberland board’s Facilities Committee during a contentious meeting that saw one board member repeatedly exchanging words with the administrative staff who crafted the document.
“Closing any branches must only be considered as a last possible action,” said board member Corby Varness, who represents Grays Harbor County. “I am disturbed by the way this administration has proceeded over the past few weeks regarding this so-called Facilities Proposal. I’m hoping tonight that we can wipe that slate clean and return to working — per our policy — as a team.”
Varness was dismayed that board members had been largely left out of the yearlong effort to craft the proposal, which was written in light of a looming budget deficit. The 98-page document led to public outcry throughout Timberland’s five-county system after it was released last week, and Varness said it should never have gotten that far before board members knew closures were on the table.
In several back-and-forth exchanges with Varness, administrative staff emphasized that the proposal was only intended to facilitate discussion and look at options — not be considered as a sweeping yes-or-no action.
“I don’t like the proposal as it currently stands,” said board president and Chehalis resident Brian Zylstra. “I come from a rural county. Lewis County is very rural. There’s a number of libraries that would be closed in our county, which I don’t like. … This proposal talks about building new library buildings in Lacey and Olympia. ... It’s better to live with crowded libraries in Olympia and Lacey instead of closing libraries in our smaller communities that are very valued by the people there. I just can’t accept closing those libraries. To them, they’re community centers, they’re senior centers, they’re youth centers.”
Ultimately, the three-member committee voted unanimously to recommend rejection of the proposal, a vote that will be taken by the next meeting of the full seven-member board. Instead, the ideas in the document will be used as reference points as Timberland continues to work through its financial situation.
Timberland staff told board members that the system is projected to have a deficit of more than $700,000 next year, as rising staff costs outpace revenues. The system’s overall budget is about $22 million. About 91 percent of TRL’s revenue comes from property taxes, which it can currently only increase by 1 percent.
“A budget is finite,” said Finance Manager Eric Lowell. “How can we do more with less is basically what we looked at.”
Lowell and other members of the administration defended the work that was done on the proposal, noting that it also looks at ways to get to the majority of people who Timberland doesn’t currently reach, using new tools like mobile services.
“I understand you want to make a statement with rejecting this proposal. If you want to completely scrap it, that’s your right,” said Administrative Support Services Manager Brenda Lane. “You were supposed to look at the proposal, review the proposal, work on the proposal. And you just want to scrap the whole thing. … It seems a bit irresponsible to not be looking at these other things when we have budget issues that are coming up.”
Varness quickly shot back.
“It would have been nice, rather than having a week to review this, to be working on it together with you over the previous year in committee,” she said. “We are the committee, and it was presented to us as — ‘here.’ … Now we’re just beginning our involvement today
Board members eventually decided to reject the proposal “as it stands,” while using it as a reference document for ongoing discussion. In light of the system’s financial situation, the Facilities Committee — which met Wednesday for the third time in 2018 — opted to begin meeting more frequently, perhaps monthly. Future meeting dates have not yet been established.
Throughout the meeting, Varness lamented the fact that the proposal had been brought into the public light in a way that was perceived as imminent, causing anxiety and confusion throughout the Timberland region.
“Why is it on the front page of our website, that appears to be telling people: ‘close this library, close this library, close this library’?” she said. “I’m hearing from branch staff who have people crying, sobbing. ‘I don’t know what to say to them.’ Staff is feeling as if they’ve been put between Timberland and their community.”
Following the meeting, Varness said she’d heard from 200 to 300 constituents since the proposal was released.
“I got yelled at for an hour at church,” she said.
Zylstra also said he’d heard from plenty of his constituents, who emphasized that physical library buildings are important in rural areas.
“People reached out to us and said, ‘Don’t close down our libraries,’” he said. “The Facilities Committee wants to put the brakes on the Facilities Plan and slow down and take a look at it. … This will take some time to work out. The budget situation is looming and we can’t ignore it, but it’s important to look for ways to address the budget without hurting the communities that rely on Timberland.”
Varness said she was hoping to slow the process to a “glacial pace” to allow for more due diligence and community engagement, as well as rebuilding public trust.
“The projected shortfall is less than 3 percent of our total budget. I believe we can find 3 percent of our total budget in ways that don’t involve closing branches,” she said. “We have to look at really deeply, philosophically who we are as a library. And we are a rural library district. … It’s a huge charge that has to be done within a limited budget. We’re up to the challenge. We’re going make it work.”
Zylstra said the full Timberland Board, which is scheduled to meet next on Oct. 24, could gather as soon as next week to officially reject the facilities proposal. The Facilities Committee will need to “accelerate” its meeting pace, he said, though scheduling has not been finalized.
