City Supports Regional Library System

WAITSBURG - With the recent conflict in the Walla Walla Valley about library services, is now the time to start thinking about annexing Weller Public Library into the Rural Library District?

City Administrator Ran- dy Hinchliffe proposed last week writing a letter to the Walla Walla County Com- missioners and the Walla Walla County Rural Library District Board supporting the idea of creating a regional library district and encour- aging them to include other jurisdictions in the county, including Waitsburg.

The library systems are reeling after the dissolution of a contract between the rural library district and the Walla Walla Public Library that had been in place many years. Aletha Bonebrake, the interim executive director of the rural library district, said the city of Walla Walla and interest groups are trying to force annexation into the ru- ral library district and remove the district's board.

"The rural library district is being attacked by these different entities," Bone- brake told the Waitsburg City Council last week. "We are in favor of a county-wide library service, but not when the atmosphere is acrimonious."

The rural library district includes libraries in College Place, Burbank, Touchet, Vista Hermosa and Prescott. The Weller Public Library in Waitsburg is not included.

Hinchliffe said he sup- ports the idea of a true region- al library system and hopes to get Waitsburg involved, according to a memo to the council.

"hellip;Allowing the City of Waitsburg into the district would only enhance library services operations available to our taxpayers beyond what the city can provide while saving the city money that could be used to fund other services," Hinchliffe said in the memo.

The city currently pays for utilities and repairs to the library while the Friends of the Library fundraise and pay for new books and program- ming.

Hinchliffe said last week because the rural library district is a high-level junior taxing district spread across the county, taxes would be low for city residents if the city were to annex in. He said the tax rate for the district is capped at 50 cents per $1,000 assessed value, so the taxes would remain low.

To annex the Weller Pub- lic Library into the district, the library board would need to approve the annexation. After the board's approval, the Waitsburg City Council would need to pass an ordi- nance, and approval would also be needed by the rural library district and county commissioners, Hinchliffe said. Finally, after all of these approvals, the voters would need to approve a ballot ini- tiative for the new taxes.

Hinchliffe said the library board for the Waitsburg li- brary had previously said they would consider annex- ing into the library district, though he had not yet heard from them recently.

Rosie Warehime, the man- ager of the library, said she would be cautious about getting Waitsburg's library involved during this time of dispute.

"There are a lot of things to think about with that," Warehime said.

The benefits of annexing into the district could mean better services and more library hours. But, Warehime said there wouldn't be too much change in services and the number of books because "that one building only has so much room."

Library Board President Jim Leid said he hadn't yet heard anything from the ru- ral library district or the city about wanting to annex into the district. But, he said it's a reasonable choice to create a regional library system.

"It makes sense to com- bine everybody," he said.

If the Weller Public Li- brary was to be annexed into the library district, Leid said there would be many ques- tions that would have to be answered, including: Who will run the library? And, what would the budget be like?

Councilman Scott Nettles said at the council meeting the council needs to hear from the library board on this issue before any approv- als should be given or letters sent.

"I can't approve anything I don't know anything about," Nettles said. "I don't think we should get mixed up in the rural library district versus the public library."

The council asked to hear from both sides, the Walla Wall Public Library and the rural library district, before making any decisions.