Libraries seek funds from voters to expand

By Doug Merlino
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

JAMES BRANAMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Parking is notoriously bad at the Bellevue Regional Library, where librarians say patrons have come to blows over the library's 197 parking spots. Capacity would be doubled if a bond measure passes.

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The $172 million measure would provide money for what officials call necessary maintenance and expansion of the busy library system.

"About every 20 years, it seems the library needs to ask the public for help," said King County Library Director Bill Ptacek. "This bond measure will help us maintain and develop our infrastructure."

Voters last approved a bond measure for library-system construction and maintenance in 1988. That $67 million measure will retire in 2011, and officials say the new measure is needed to maintain and improve the system.

Information On the Web: For a full list and more information on what's planned for each library, visit www.kcls.org/replacementbond

Passage of the measure would provide money to replace 16 libraries, expand 11 others and build new branches in Newcastle, Kent's East Hill and Park Lake in the next 10 years. All of the system's 43 libraries would receive money for maintenance needs, such as carpet replacement, heating and air-conditioning work, and roof repairs.

The new measure, which would expire in 2025, would cost property owners in the library's service area — which includes all of King County except Seattle, Enumclaw, Renton, Hunts Point and Yarrow Point — about $8 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.

Ptacek said the system projects it will need $46 million over the next decade for basic repairs alone. The rest of the money would be used to expand cramped libraries, replace aging buildings and increase access to technology.

Ptacek said the bond measure is necessary because of Initiative 747 — passed by voters in 2001 — which limits property-tax increases to 1 percent a year unless voters approve higher taxes. If the measure does not pass, the library system will have to dip into operating budgets to pay for maintenance, Ptacek said, leading to service disruptions.

Library bond measure 3 new libraries: size, and year proposed construction would begin Kent East Hill, 6,000 square feet, 2009 Newcastle, 10,000 square feet, 2006 Park Lake, 2,500 square feet, 2007 Among the 27 libraries to be replaced or expanded: size, and year proposed construction would begin Burien, from 20,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet, 2007 Carnation, from 2,160 square feet to 5,000 square feet, 2009 Duvall, from 2,200 square feet to 8,000 square feet, 2007 Fairwood, from 15,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet, 2012 Fall City, from 2,960 square feet to 5,000 square feet, 2008 Federal Way 320th, from 10,800 square feet to 15,000 square feet, 2011 Federal Way Regional, from 25,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet, 2010 Foster City/Tukwila, combined into one 8,000-square-foot library, year to be determined Kenmore, from 2,100 square feet to 10,000 square feet, 2007 Kingsgate, from 10,235 square feet to 12,000 square feet, 2010 Kirkland, from 15,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet, 2008 Lake Forest Park, from 1,400 square feet to 3,600 square feet, 2006 Lake Hills, from 9,100 square feet to 10,000 square feet, 2011 Muckleshoot, from 1,600 square feet to 5,000 square feet, 2007 Newport Way, from 2,000 square feet to 8,025 square feet, 2009 Sammamish, from 10,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet, 2008 Skykomish, from 642 square feet to 842 square feet, 2006 Skyway, from 5,100 square feet to 8,000 square feet, 2009 Snoqualmie, from 2,200 square feet to 6,000 square feet, 2009 Vashon, from 6,196 square feet to 10,000 square feet, 2008 White Center, from 6,370 square feet to 10,000 square feet, 2009 Woodmont, from 5,250 square feet to 10,050 square feet, 2006 Source: King County Library System

Last year, the system circulated 16 million items, making it the second-busiest library system in the nation, Ptacek said.

A $158 million bond measure failed in February 2003. It received 52 percent voter approval but needed 60 percent to pass.

Library officials say they learned a lesson from that experience.

Julie Wallace, a spokeswoman for the system, said "tactical errors" and "bad timing," including insufficient public outreach and being on the ballot at a time when war with Iraq was looming, contributed to its failure.

In response, the library system "went back into essentially every community" to see what people wanted for their local libraries, Wallace said. The feedback, from public meetings and surveys, led to adjustments in the plans, such as increasing the size of new libraries to replace current ones in Sammamish and Burien.

The new measure also includes more money for traveling library services that cater to senior citizens, such as book-delivery vehicles.

"There is something for every single library in the system," said Wallace.

Even though the economy remains tough, Wallace said the library thinks it has a good case for the bond.

"From the feedback we had, we found that people did not think it was an exorbitant amount to be asking for," Wallace said, pointing out that the new Seattle Public Library's new Central Library, a single building, cost $168 million.

Library officials also believe the last measure was not explained well to citizens. This time around, People for Libraries — a private group mostly staffed by volunteers — has raised $150,000 to campaign for the measure. The group will buy TV and radio ads, plant yard signs and set up informational booths at community events, said Renee Lewis, who is running the effort.

If the bond measure passes, the money will be spread throughout the system. Libraries that are getting old, such as Kenmore, Lake Hills and Federal Way, would be replaced with new buildings. Others, such as Bellevue and Redmond, would see their parking areas doubled.

Cecilia McGowan, manager of the children's section at the Bellevue Regional Library, said demand for the library's 197 parking spots is so high that fistfights have broken out.

"It's scary," said McGowan. "Not a week goes by without a fender bender."

Libraries such as Sammamish are being redone with an eye toward the future.

Under the current plan, the Sammamish Library, which is only six years old, would be sold and a new library, double the size, built at another location for an estimated $7.5 million. The project would begin in 2008.

Wallace said the Sammamish situation was "unique," but showed the challenges the system faced in keeping up with changing demographics.

"No one projected the expansive growth in the Sammamish community," said Wallace. "It was expected to serve for much longer than it has."

Sammamish managing librarian Laura Boyes said circulation has been growing at a double-digit pace, with 600,000 items checked out last year. One wall of the library is reserved for materials on hold, because space behind the counter ran out.

"We don't have the number of books and depth of collection we need to serve the community," she said. Sammamish is expected to grow by around 3,800 households over the next 18 years, according to King County projections.

Boyes said the library's one meeting room is always booked, the computers are in high demand and story times for children draw up to 70 people. In addition, traffic revisions by the city of Sammamish have made it impossible to turn left into the parking lot, making it difficult to access the library.

There is no organized opposition to the measure, but Kirkland resident Will Knedlik has placed a statement against the proposal in the King County voters pamphlet.

Knedlik, a former state legislator and persistent critic of King County government, argues that the library system could serve the public perfectly well without imposing new taxes if it managed its money better.

Knedlik also says that the bond will really cost taxpayers $350 million — nearly twice the $172 million on the ballot — once interest is accrued. In addition, Knedlik said, it is misleading to call the bond a "replacement" when the old one will not retire for another seven years.

Ptacek said Knedlik's criticism is unfounded. He said bond measures always are valued based on the amount that will be borrowed, the same as when someone takes a mortgage on a house. It is impossible to know, Ptacek said, how much interest would eventually be due on the bonds.

He said new bonds will phase in as the old bonds expire. The current bond measure would actually cost people who own $300,000 homes about a dollar less per year than the 1988 measure, Ptacek added.

At the Bellevue Regional Library, McGowan said the bond measure must pass in order to keep pace with growing demand for library services.

"The public has told us what it wants from the library — more materials, parking, programs and story times," said McGowan. "We're just trying to keep up with all the things the public thinks a library can provide for it."

Doug Merlino: 206-464-2243 or dmerlino@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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