West Seattle Herald / White Center News - Libraries

Opinion: Hoorah! Gratitude! A New White Center Library!

ericm — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:51:17 +0000

By Astha Tada

Hoorah! It’s been decided! Our new, larger 10,000 square foot library will be built right behind Mount View Elementary at S.W. 107th Street and 14th Avenue S.W. This will be a welcomed resource since effective early elementary education is crucial for school success. It is also still within walking distance from Cascade Middle School/ Evergreen campuses, closer to White Center Heights Elementary and low income facilities.

The requests to delay the decision to understand the full impact of the sites and get greater community involvement were denied by KCLS trustees who felt rising building costs, long delays, generous loan allowances and another interested buyer compelled them to make this choice.

Like planning a home, the White Center community needs to be sure that the King County Library System (KCLS) has our input in designing our library so that it meets the needs of our diverse White Center patrons. For example, our teens need more access to computers and other technology not found in their homes. Many of our adult citizens rely solely on the library for job applications and searches.

Gratitude! Before we begin the building process, recognition is needed for the hard work, diligence and perseverance of those who fought to keep our library from closing. If not for their efforts, we would not be celebrating right now!

Comments that the library closure was a ploy for annexation are not correct. As one who participated in the long battle to keep both Boulevard Park and White Center libraries from closing, annexation was definitely a key issue presented by KCLS as a reason for consolidation and closure of our smaller libraries.

Thank you to those who sacrificed much personal time by attending numerous KCLS Issaquah meetings to testify, monitoring diligently KCLS agendas that listed our libraries, writing letters and editorials, gathering over 2000 petition signatures, informing organizations and citizens, etc.

When the KCLS Board of Trustees was going to vote for consolidation, those who attended would not leave unless the decision was delayed, pending the annexation vote. It was a face-to-face stand off! If you were there, you would have been proud of our supporters’ combined grit and determination to keep our beloved libraries open!

Credit for the hard work include members of the White Center Library Guild, North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, Burien City Council, King County Councilman, Joe McDermott, Highline School District, White Center Community Development Association and numerous citizens from Boulevard Park, White Center and elsewhere whose individual actions collectively made a significant difference. The Highline District Board of
Directors passed a 2-page formal Resolution 2479 unanimously opposing the closure of our libraries.

I want to, especially, recognize one individual whose passion and commitment were crucial in saving our two libraries. Rachael Levine, former White Center Library Guild president, never wavered in leading the fight, even when many were ready to give up. She was willing to bring her sleeping bag and camp out with me in front of our library to keep it open.

Her integrity in how she battles on, the respectful manner in dealing with opposing individuals, and her wisdom and continued service after years of participating in many humanitarian and social organizations make her a true White Center warrior!

Let’s begin the building process by coming together, collaborating and cooperating to build the best library for our White Center community. Time keeps ticking and our high-potential, high-need students are counting on us to help them climb out of poverty. The building bond for this project was approved in 2004. KCLS needs to host planning sessions in our community so that many of you can give input. The Highline School District has offered KCLS school space for these events. Everyone is welcome! All aboard! ONWARD!
Gracias, cam on, ar kun, mahad sanid, fa’afetai, arigato, thank you,

Astha Tada is a community volunteer, retired Cascade Middle School librarian and 2nd vice president of Beta Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization focused on educational excellence.

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ericm

03/01/2013

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Update: White Center Library to be in White Center, not Burien

patr — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:10:27 +0000

The King County Library System Board of Trustees approved the new White Center library Tuesday night, Feb. 26 by a vote of 4 to 0, and approved locating the new library at a vacant lot on the corner of SW 107th and 14th SW (the preferred site by the White Center Chamber of Commerce, the White Center CDA, several school teachers and after school program directors, and many other White Center community members).

This location is directly across the street from Mount View Elementary School, directly across the street from Coronado Springs, a low income facility with over 300 family and elder apartments, and the site is next door to almost 400 additional apartment units to the south.

All these residents will have an easy walking distance on non arterial streets to reach the new library.
The KCLS will now negotiate with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, the owner of the site on the development process.

It is expected that the new $5+ million library will be a redevelopment opportunity for the White Center business district and become an anchor to the south end of the White Center business district.

The next phase will include outreach to the White Center community to help design the interior and determine the additional community amenities that will be included in the library design.

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patr

02/28/2013

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The King County Library System has approved the location and construction of a new library in White Center at the intersection of 15th SW and SW 107th.

LETTER: After annexation rejection, Burien trying to steal White Center Library

ericm — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:17:08 +0000

So, Burien loses the White Center annexation vote, and is now retaliating by trying to steal our new White Center library.

After our 2 to 1 vote to reject Burien annexation, Rose Clark and Jerry Robison (not the Highline Times publisher), two of the most vocal pro-Burien annexation voices on the Burien City Council, testified at a recent King County Library System (KCLS) hearing that our new White Center library should be moved away from White Center, further south into Burien.

They then suggested that if that was not possible, an alternative is to keep the library at the same location, but close it for a year during construction. Their testimony emphasized that in no case should our new White Center library be located in unincorporated White Center, which is closer to our elementary schools. Their actions are vindictive and appear to be retribution for our strong rejection of Burien annexation.

At the same hearing, Barbara Dobkin, the president of the UAC, another pro-Burien annexation group, also testified that the White Center library should be moved further away from White Center, south into Burien.

She stated that White Center is not safe. So, apparently from Ms. Dobkin’s point-of-view, White Center is safe enough for two elementary schools, but not safe enough for our new library.

These are the same three people who told us during the annexation campaign that if we did not annex to Burien, we would lose our new White Center library. We rejected Burien annexation, and one week later, contrary to their claims, we got our new White Center library anyway.

Now, they are working to make sure the new White Center library is not built in White Center.

King County voters passed a library bond almost ten years ago to build a new White Center library. King County averages one library for about every 34,000 residents, with libraries distributed across the county.

Burien is part of the King County library system and already has two King County libraries, one in downtown Burien, and one in Boulevard Park. So Burien has a library for every 23,000 Burien residents. Now Burien wants to claim our White Center library too, apparently to hold it hostage to a future annexation vote.

They claim that if Seattle annexes White Center someday, White Center would "lose our library.” First, Seattle will not be annexing White Center any time soon (if ever) and even if they did, we would always have our library. It would stay open.

And an inter-local agreement is in place, that can be amended, that would allow King County, Seattle and Burien residents to share library resources anyway.

Our new library is a real opportunity for White Center. We should site this fantastic resource where it will do the most good for White Center, not where it will do the most good for Burien.

We should place our new library near our elementary schools, at a blighted location that needs re-development. There are three exceptional locations in unincorporated White Center that are excellent sites for the new library. One is on 16th S.W. (the old Wendy’s restaurant site just north of S.W. 112th on the east side), one is the large vacant lot in 15th S.W. and S.W. 107th directly across the street from Mt. View Elementary School, and one is the old public health site near the White Center Food Bank near Hicks Lake/Lakewood Park. All of these sites need improvement, two are very close to our public schools, and all three would allow the current library to remain open during the one-year construction process.

Moving our new White Center library outside of unincorporated White Center is absolutely against our community interests, and these individuals know this. Their actions are more like sour grapes than good community advocacy. They should be ashamed.

Don Malo
Malo’s Autobody
White Center

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ericm

11/30/2012

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UPDATE: White Center Library apparently saved

ericm — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:07:14 +0000

Proposal is to move it a bit north toward Seattle

“Awesome.”

That was the one-word reaction from Liz Giba, a leader in the fight to keep the White Center Library, following a King County Library System (KCLS) planning committee meeting in Burien on Thursday, Nov. 15.

With the overwhelming defeat of Burien’s bid to annex North Highline, Giba and other area library supporters who packed the small Burien Library conference room feared KCLS director Bill Ptacek would recommend the library board resume plans to close the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries and build a larger library in north Burien.

Instead, Ptacek suggested KCLS build a 10,000 square-foot library north of the current White Center Library at 11220 16th Ave. S.W. The current library is 6,000 square feet.

Ironically, one of the reasons Ptacek had earlier given for closing the White Center site was that it was too close to Seattle’s city limits. He argued Seattle residents were coming over the border and using the library without paying for its services.

In a later interview with the Highline Times, Ptacek said there will be no changes to the Boulevard Park Library.

As for the proposed consolidated library, Ptacek noted, “On the idea of a larger library we are not ready to do it.”

But he said the area is in need of more library services. He also reminded committee members that it has been nearly ten years since the 2004 bond was approved that authorized building a new White Center Library.

He noted that a temporary location would have to be found if the new library was built on the current site.

Building further south would place the new library closer to the Burien Library in downtown Burien, which serves a large area, Ptacek noted.

By building the library to the north, Seattle could take it over if the city annexes North Highline in the future, he said. A new agreement between KCLS and Seattle would have to be worked out, he added.

The library is currently within Burien's city limits but would have to be moved just a block north to be in the unincorporated area.

“It’s time to get going,” Ptacek declared. “We recommend we move north a little bit.”

Ptacek said the library system would have to purchase land along the same street (16th Avenue Southwest) where the current library is located. Ptacek hopes to have construction started by this time next year. He said he has received positive responses on the new proposal from Burien and Seattle city officials.

In discussions with Seattle officials, Ptacek said some city council members are interested in annexing North Highline but it is not on the city’s immediate agenda.

While KCLS postponed action on consolidation until after the annexation vote, former White Center Library Guild president Rachael Levine observed after the meeting that annexation didn’t seem to play a big part in Ptacek’s recommendation.

But in the Highline Times interview, Ptacek said the annexation vote made clear that White Center would not become part of Burien and KCLS would have to create a different service for the area.

“We have the money. The community has a need. We are ready to go,” Ptacek declared.

Planning committee members generally supported Ptacek’s recommendation, which will be passed on to the whole board of trustees for approval.

Here is our previous coverage:

Under pressure from county and local political leaders, the King County Library System board agreed to postpone consolidating the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries into one facility near Southwest 128th Street until after the North Highline annexation vote.

Last week, North Highline voters overwhelmingly rejected annexation into Burien.

This week, the library system’s planning committee will consider the consolidation proposal again. The discussion will come at a committee meeting open to the public on Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Burien Library, 400 S.W. 152nd St. The meeting begins at noon with the North Highline library discussion at the top of the agenda.

Annexation proponents argued that the library system would go forward with their consolidation plan if annexation was not approved. Opponents said the annexation vote would not affect the decision on the libraries.

Proponents countered that with annexation, library officials would stick to the original plan as approved by voters in a 2004 library bond election to build a new White Center Library and remodel the Boulevard Park Library. Library system staffers have argued that the original plan is no longer cost efficient.

At a packed Nov. 29, 2011 library board meeting in Issaquah, it appeared the consolidation was a done deal when two of the five trustees voiced support. Trustee Lucy Krakowiak, also a Burien City Councilmember, recused herself from board decisions affecting Burien. It is not clear if she will continue to recuse herself now that the issue has resurfaced.

At the Issaquah meeting, trustee Rob Spitzner noted that officials from the King County Executive’s office, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, and the city of Burien had strongly suggested that the board hold off a decision until the annexation issue was decided.

County library system officials worry that Seattle residents are making the short trek over Seattle’s city limits to use the White Center library without paying for the service. Seattle operates its own library system.

With the 2009 annexation of Boulevard Park/Area X, the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries are within Burien’s city limits. A new two-story library was also constructed on the Burien Town Square site to replace the old library that occupied the current Burien Community Center site.

With the three libraries, Burien currently has one library per 16,000 people. With consolidation to the two large libraries, Burien would have one library per 24,000 people. The countywide average is one library per 36,000 people.

However, consolidation opponents led by White Center Library Guild president Rachael Levine argue the library system committed to a new White Center library and remodeled Boulevard Park library in the 2004 bond election.

They also say the White Center library is within walking distance for low-income Evergreen High and Cascade Middle students who may not have access to a computer at home or a private vehicle.

They also cite a greater need for libraries among lower income residents who may also have transportation difficulties.

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ericm

11/15/2012

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Burien council meeting turns nasty over library consolidation

ericm — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:34:03 +0000

While Burien City Council members are seriously split on North Highline annexation and other issues, they had refrained from personal verbal attacks in public—until their July 2 council meeting.

The issue that spurred the verbal joust was the possible consolidation of the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries into one new building. King County Library System trustees have considered the recommendation from their staff but have held off action pending the November vote on annexation.

But on July 2, Councilman Jack Block Jr. accused the council majority of Mayor Brian Bennett. Deputy Mayor Rose Clark, Councilwoman Joan McGilton and Councilman Gerald Robison of secretly going along with City Manager Mike Martin’s plans to close the libraries. Block said Martin is working through an ad hoc committee to go along with consolidating the libraries. He added Martin wants to use the current White Center Library building as a police precinct station.

Clark said the committee is discussing possibly moving the White Center library closer to downtown White Center. But she insisted that Martin and the four lawmakers favor keeping the two libraries in addition to the new downtown Burien Library.

Normally soft-spoken Mayor Bennett labeled Block’s statement “a complete lie” and Councilman Robison, an attorney, called it “slanderous.”
But Block stood by his statement.

“If feelings are hurt, I don’t care,” Block declared.

Council members also turned down an attempt to place a land use amendment on the city’s comprehensive plan amendments docket.

The amendment to the city’s land use map would require that density be kept at no greater than four units per acre in the Lake Burien neighborhood.

The advocates say the lake is a critical area that should be protected from more density. They cite storm water problems and deteriorating water quality in the lake.

Block suggested the lake homeowners give development rights to a land conservancy group that would assure no further development on their property.

The Burien Planning Commission voted 4-3 earlier to reject the request.

The City Council voted 5-2 to also reject the request. Bennett, Clark, McGilton and Robison voted against adding it to the planning docket while Council members Bob Edgar and Lucy Krakowiak voted to add the request.

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ericm

07/08/2012

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Five Burien residents to receive outstanding citizen awards

ericm — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:02:18 +0000

Library study worries White Center, Boulevard Park library proponents

Five Burien residents were chosen Monday, Feb. 7 by the Burien City Council to receive the city’s annual citizen awards.
The five are Debra George, business leader; Maggie Larrick and Eric Dickman, community leaders; Michael Stein-Ross, education leader; and Brooks Stanfield, environmental leader.
The awards will be presented at a dinner event on March 4 at 8:15 p.m. at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W. The event, organized by Discover Burien, will include a silent auction.
George is a former executive director of Discover Burien and plans events for the group. She is also co owner of the Mark Restaurant in Olde Burien.
Larrick, a former Times/News editor, is managing director of the Burien Little Theatre. Dickman, her husband, is artistic director for the theatre.
Stein-Ross teaches at St. Francis of Assisi School in Seahurst. He and his students are building a rain garden at the school.
Stanfield organized the bike rodeo at last year’s Burien Wild Strawberry Festival and has been an advocate for bicycle use.
The council also heard a presentation on the King County Library System’s North Highline Library Service Area analysis.
The analysis focused on the North Highline, Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park and SeaTac areas.
Project manager Jennifer Wiseman said the new Burien library has drawn customers from a large area and serves as a regional library.
She said the analysis found the northern portion is “overlibraried” while the southern portion “is below system averages.”
Director Bill Ptacek said the library system is committed to equal distribution of resources, which is not necessarily based on income levels or amount of library use.
Ptacek said the system would do further outreach with the library’s board of directors receiving a recommendation in April.
Councilwoman Rose Clark, a retired Tyee High library assistant, said further cuts to the Highline School District’s budget could impact school libraries and make public libraries more important to the students.
Proponents for the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries, both recently annexed into the Burien city limits, fear the library system will close down one or the other library. They said the system promised to expand the White Center library during the last library bond election.
They also worry the White Center library will be scrapped because of its closeness to Greenbridge Library that could be annexed into the city of Seattle. Seattle has a separate library system.
The proponents argue that while the Boulevard Park and White Center libraries may not have large checkout rates, low-income patrons rely on using the computers at the libraries. They also say that low-income people cannot travel easily to larger, regional libraries, such as Burien so need neighborhood libraries.

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ericm

02/08/2011

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Seattle Public Library identifies funding options

michaelh — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:35:34 +0000

By Richard Conlin, Seattle City Council

Ed. Note: The Seattle Public Library system, including the Ballard Library, is closed Aug. 30 to Sept. 6 due to budget cuts.

In April, I noted that my concern about funding for the Seattle Public Library in these difficult budget times led me to take oversight of the library in my Regional Development and Sustainability Committee in order to work with the library on finding a new and independent source of funding.

While the council has consistently restored some funding to the library when it has been cut by the mayor, this will become increasingly difficult in future years, as public safety and human services take up much of the budget and are seen as priorities.

Seattle Public Library staff, working with council staff and the City Budget office, have now completed an initial review of possible funding options and submitted it to my committee.

The review suggests that a voter-approved levy lid lift for library operations may be the most promising possibility for a sustainable funding source.

The other promising options – creating a separate library district or increasing the city's overall revenues – seem to be more difficult and do not offer any more certainty.

The team first examined how other libraries in Washington are funded. Surprisingly, Seattle is the only library system of the five serving more than 250,000 people that is not organized as a Library District, although it is joined by the sixth and seventh largest systems, Spokane and Tacoma.

This is because the state's Library District legislation was designed to provide for the needs of relatively smaller jurisdictions, which could join together to provide services. Now, however, some of these districts serve very large populations.

Nonetheless, the state legislation would have to be changed to allow cities to create Library Districts. The analysis noted that even if this were possible, it would not be very different from going to the voters for a levy lid lift, since in either case voter approval would be required and property taxes are the only option.

And, it might be difficult to get the state legislature to take action, since only Seattle would be interested, and we would have to work hard to get allies.

Even with the decline in property values as a result of the recession, Seattle would have plenty of capacity under state law to fund libraries with a voter-approved levy.

The analysis noted that a more general government levy would be one additional option that could be considered, but that this would be out of the library's control.

The 2011-2012 budget will be a difficult one for the library, but the council will do our best to maintain critical services.

After this budget is completed in November, it is my intention to conduct a further council review of the funding options.

If we confirm that a levy vote is the most reasonable option, we will then launch a public process in cooperation with Seattle Public Library to see when it would have public support.

My goal is to have a stable funding source in place before the 2013-2014 budget cycle.

This piece original appeared in Richard Conlin's newsletter, Making It Work.

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michaelh

08/31/2010

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Ballard Library, others closed Aug. 30 – Sept. 6

michaelh — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:08:15 +0000

The Ballard Library, as well as all other Seattle Public Library branches, will be closed Aug. 30 through Sept. 5 due to citywide budget cuts. Libraries will also be closed Sept. 6 for the Labor Day holiday.

As part of the Ballard Library closure, the parking garage for the library and the Ballard Neighborhood Service Center will also be closed for the week.

The closures are part of cuts implemented by all city departments to help address a $67 million gap in the 2010 city budget, according to a Seattle Public Library press release.

The closures will save approximately $650,000 and are only one of a number of measures Seattle Public Library is undertaking to achieve $3 million in cuts for 2010, according to the press release.

According to the press release, the closures will mean salary reductions for nearly 650 employees, who will not be paid during that week.

The rest of the cuts for 2010 are to branch hours, management and administration, the budget for books and materials, staff computers and staff training, according to the press release.

The following services will be unavailable during the one-week closure:

No materials will be due and no fines will be accrued.
The last day to check out library items before the closure is Aug. 29.
No book drops will be open. Do not leave books and materials outside library locations during the closure.
Limited access to the online catalog. Patrons will be able to search the catalog and check their library record but will not be able to place holds on items. No staff will be working to process the thousands of books and materials that customers normally put on hold.
Limited access to the website. The online calendar, databases, downloadable books and media, digital special collections, podcasts, SPL Mobile app and blogs will be available, but other online information and features will not be available. No staff members will be working to maintain the site or troubleshoot problems.
No library computers will be available. You will not be able to reserve a computer for the week the library system is closed.
No access to Wi-Fi.
No book group kits will be sent, received or returned during the one-week closure.
No programs or events in library meeting rooms.
No TeleCirc, the library's telephone circulation service.
No Quick Information telephone service.
No Text a Librarian, e-mail a librarian or chat with a librarian.
No Mobile Services.
No mail will be received during the closure. The library will have the U.S. Post Office hold all mail until the library reopens. Staff won't be available to accept deliveries.
No parking in library garages.

The following electronic services will be available during the closures:

Some online resources will be available for you to use remotely during the closure. Please note staff will not be available to provide assistance to use these services.
Catalog. You will be able to search for books and materials but will not be able to place items on hold.
"My Account" information. You will be able to see what items you have checked out or placed on hold, as well as see your fines.
Calendar of Events. You will be able to see information about upcoming library programs.
SPL Mobile page. You will be able to view information about using SPL Mobile, the Library's new app for web-enabled phones.
Databases. You will have access to more than 70 premium databases, including Britannica Online, ChiltonLibrary.com, Consumer Reports and Morningstar Investment Research Center.
Downloadable media. You will have access to more than 50,000 items in the digital collection, including 42,000 e-books and audiobooks, 3,000 downloadable music titles and 5,000 downloadable movie titles. There will be links to instructional videos on how to download digital media.
Digital collections. You will have access to three special collections that have been digitized: Photos from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Collection, the Northwest Art Collection and The Seattle Historical Photograph Collection.
Adult blog "Shelf Talk" and teen blog "Push to Talk."
Library podcasts.

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08/27/2010

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Michael Harthorne

The Ballard Library, as well as the rest of the Seattle Public Library system, will be closed Aug. 30 to Sept. 6 due to budget cuts.