Infographic courtesy of Pierce County Library System
Officials from the Pierce County Library System (PCLS) are encouraging residents within Roy city limits to contact the city council after it was recently announced that 110 users would no longer receive library services as part of the closure of the Roy City Library.
Roy residents received letters this month with the news, which explained the circumstances of their eligibility. Library users’ accounts will be canceled on July 1, according to the letter.
While Roy users won’t be able to check out materials, they are still encouraged to use PCLS resources, get help from staff and attend classes and events, which don’t require a library card.
“You have been a member of the Pierce County Library System through our reciprocal library card program, which allows residents of cities with a tax-funded library that is not part of the Pierce County Library District to have a Pierce County Library card. In January 2019, the City of Roy closed its library, which makes this program no longer available to residents living within the city limits of Roy,” the letter read.
PCLS is encouraging all affected users to return checked out materials at their earliest convenience.
The Roy City Library closed Dec. 31, 2018, as a result of a funding shortage between the library and the city of Roy. As apart of the city’s 2019 budget, funding for the library was cut. The library was part of an extension program with the PCLS and its system of 20 libraries.
Roy residents now join the ranks of Carbonado, Fircrest and Ruston as another city or town outside of PCLS’s district of eligibility, according to information on the library system’s website.
PCLS officials are encouraging Roy residents to contact their city council, if they feel so inclined, to begin the annexing process of the city of Roy into the PCLS’s district, which would require a property tax levy increase of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, Executive Director Georgia Lomax said.
“If residents in the city want to be able to receive Pierce County Library services, they would have a conversation with their city leaders about that and their city leaders could put a measure on a ballot,” she said.
Roy City Clerk-Treasurer Debra Dearinger said the city council has three options moving forward to address library services. According to materials in the June 24 city council agenda, the city can either run a ballot measure to annex itself into PCLS’s library system, run a ballot measure to assess a tax for a city library or let Roy residents purchase their own Timberland Library cards, which would cost about $92 a year per household.
No action was taken at the June 24 city council meeting.
According to information from the letters, residents may still be eligible for a PCLS card if they pay taxes on a residence or property outside of Roy and inside its service area. Roy residents may also be eligible if they’re active duty military.
“Somebody who lives in the city of Roy city limits may have a business in our library district or maybe just a second house or something,” Lomax said. “If people think that they may be paying property taxes in unincorporated Pierce County or any city or towns in our district, they are paying for library services and they should just contact us and we can confirm that.”
