PORT ANGELES — The four public libraries in Clallam County were set to close their doors this Monday through next Saturday, Sept. 4, for an unpaid staff furlough.
Despite what some consider poor timing — next week is the last before school starts for many students across the county — the closure was necessary, North Olympic Library System director Paula Barnes said, due to worsening budgetary woe.
But then, on Thursday, Barnes announced the shutdowns won’t happen after all.
The system’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously in a special meeting this week to keep the libraries in Clallam Bay, Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim open by dipping into system reserves, she said.
The weeklong closure was to save the libraries $35,000 — but now that sum can be taken out of the Reserve for Economic Uncertainty account, Barnes said, since the library system now has a way to replenish that rainy-day fund in 2011.
Levy rate hike
Clallam’s libraries stand to get a revenue boost next year since the “levy lid lift,” essentially a property tax hike, passed with 59.11 percent of the vote in the Aug. 17 primary election.
The voters’ approval means Clallam County property tax bills will rise from the current 33 cents per $1,000 in assessed valuation to 50 cents per $1,000. So the owner of a $250,000 home, for example, will pay $125 per year in property tax instead of the current $82.50.
The increase will take effect in 2011 and is expected to funnel more than $1.3 million into library coffers by the end of next year.
“I was pleased and relieved,” Barnes said after the board’s decision to scrap the furlough.
The four libraries’ 53 staff people won’t be forced to miss a week’s wages, and for the ever-growing crowd using the libraries, it means no week without free books, videos and Internet-connected computers.
Libraries busy
The public libraries are busier than they were at this time last year by at least 10 percent, Barnes added, and the Sequim branch is more than 20 percent busier.
Unemployment and financial insecurity are bringing people to the library, she believes, to check out books and videos instead of buying them, and to use the library’s fast Internet connection to search for work.
Board chairwoman Nina Pitts likewise expressed relief at averting the closures.
Voters come through
“The voters of Clallam County just sent a clear message that the library is important,” she said. “If we now have a fiscally responsible way to keep all the libraries open, and to keep the staff from having to go without a week’s pay, we should keep them open.”
Emily Sly, the four libraries’ coordinator of volunteers and outreach, was also happy about the change in plans.
“It’s nice not to take the pay cut,” she said, and “we should be open. We’re here to provide library services,” such as delivery of books to people who are homebound.
Reaching out
As outreach coordinator, she sends volunteers out with books, CDs and DVDs to shut-ins.
“It’s been really exciting that [business] is up,” she added, “and we have more volunteers out delivering materials to people.”
“I work with around 50 volunteers systemwide,” Sly said, “and we’re certainly looking for more.”
Volunteers can choose to work in the libraries or go out to homebound patrons; Sly’s phone number for details is 360-417-8520.
Over the past year, however, Barnes and the board of trustees have made cuts in library hours and purchasing of new books and other materials, and left three positions unfilled after staff members retired or resigned.
These reductions were needed, Barnes said, as the library system labored under the state’s 1-percent-per-year cap on property-tax budget increases — while inflation has averaged 2.8 percent per year.
There were no staff layoffs, she said, though if the levy lid lift hadn’t passed, she would have had to look at that possibility, plus further cuts in library hours, in 2011.
The library system saved some money earlier this year with an unpaid staff furlough and shutdown from March 29 through April 2. That wasn’t an ideal time, Barnes said, since it was spring break for at least one of Clallam’s school districts.
“There’s never a good time to close a library,” she said. “It’s really good that we’re not doing it.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.