Clippings, March 27, 2009

The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council, with help from County Councilman Dow Constantine’s office, plans to survey Vashon’s registered voters to determine if Islanders would like the library to remain at Ober Park or move to the proposed K2 Commons. The survey is expected to provide input to the King County Library System board of directors, which has told county library officials to explore the potential of both sites simultaneously. (Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, 2-25-09) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/vashon/vib/news/40252548.html

Buildings:

Community activists pressing for a new West Olympia Library hope to make an offer on a parcel of property to lock it up for a year.  That would give the West Olympia Community Visioning Group time to make progress toward its goal of a new community gathering space anchored by a branch of the Timberland Regional Library System.  A west-side library is likely years away from reality. (The Olympian, 2-24-09) http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/767575.html

Federal Way Regional Library, part of the King County Library system, expansion project begins March 16.  Federal Way will be gaining an additional 10,000 square feet of library thanks to a 2004 voter-approved measure that included expanding the Regional Library on First Way South. (with photo) (Federal Way Mirror, 3-4-09) http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/fwm/community/40679828.html

Last July, the Liberty Lake City Council approved the purchase of a 37,400 square-foot warehouse once occupied by a manufacturing company. On Monday, March 2^nd, the new Liberty Lake Library was officially opened to the public. (with color photo) (Valley News Herald [Spokane], 3-6-09) http://www.spokanevalleyonline.com/articles_svnews/2009/030609_liberty_lake_launch_new_library.html

Letters and Editorials:

Taxpayers shouldn’t pay for Orcas Island Library District expansion. (The Island Sounder [Eastsound], 3-4-09)

People:

La Donna Olmstead known as the Tea Madame, which is also the name of the business she and her husband operate in Sumner, has been visiting branches of the Pierce County Library System to conduct her tea time event, where attendees get free samples as well as considerable amounts of information.  This is all for the 2009 Pierce County Reads program which selected the novel “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson for the year. (with photo) (Milton-Edgewood Signal [Tacoma], 2-26-09) http://www.miltonedgewoodsignal.com/article/549

Nancy Fasano-Stepsis of Vancouver was named Distinguished Woman of the Year at the annual Women of Distinction event March 4 to celebrate Women’s History Month at Washington State University Vancouver. She was nominated for her volunteer work with the Fort Vancouver Regional Library and for her service with the Vancouver branch of the American Association of University Women, which promotes education and financial equity for women and girls. (with photo) (Columbian [Vancouver], 3-14-09) http://columbian.com/article/20090314/NEWS02/703149978/-1/NEWS

Programs and Displays:

Yelm Timberland Library staff and visitors celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday with library events including read-alouds and birthday cake. The Dr. Seuss birthday was scaled down from last year due to budget constraints. (with color photos) (Nisqually Valley News [Yelm], 3-6-09)

Economy/Hard Times:

The Pend Oreille County Library District’s board of directors decided to trim the 2009 budget after learning that timber harvest tax payments will be less than originally estimated. Since the library district has no special levies or bonds, it gets third priority for funds from the timber harvest taxes, which are low this year. (Newport Miner, 2-25-09)

People throughout the Stevens County Library District seem to be making more use of the free entertainment that libraries offer, including utilizing libraries’ resources to file for unemployment, search for jobs and post resumes online. (Statesman-Examiner [Colville], 2-25-09)

Neill Public Library dealing with “woefully inadequate” funding for materials. Based on the heightened public demand for services, Director Geraldine de Rooy recently asked the City Council for money to hire more staff and increase the materials budget. The council mulled library staff’s requests during a March 8 workshop but didn’t recommend any immediate changes. (with color photo) (Moscow-Pullman Daily News, 3-16-09)

[This summary of library news was created by Bobbie DeMiero and Leanna Hammond of the Washington State Library Division of the Office of the Secretary of State. It represents a newspaper clippings packet from all Washington newspapers received on the date shown. For more information about any of these stories, contact Bobbie DeMiero at 360.570.5577 or [email protected]. ]