The Library levy has passed with 59.11% of the vote. Thank you for supporting your North Olympic Library System.
Thank you to the voters of Clallam County for supporting your North Olympic Library System. Watch this space for updates on how the Library will implement the NOLS 2012 plan to expand hours, add more books to the collection and address infrastructure needs throughout the system.
NOLS 2012 plan approved
At their April 22, 2010 meeting, the North Olympic Library System Board of Trustees approved NOLS 2012 : a business plan for the Library. NOLS 2012 responds to public demand for service improvements for each of the NOLS libraries: Clallam Bay, Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim, and it establishes a plan for fiscal stability for the Library system for at least the next ten years.
The plan was developed with citizen input from the four Friends of the Library groups. It discusses how Washington’s public libraries, unlike cities, counties and school districts, depend mostly on the property tax to support basic operations. It outlines the need to restore the District’s tax levy to 50 cents, the amount that was approved by the voters in 1978, the last time the Library sought a levy rate increase. The NOLS 2012 plan shows how the Library will better respond to community demand by extending and adjusting the hours of operation at all four libraries to be more convenient and accessible to the public, and by adding more books, CDs and other materials to the libraries’ collections. The plan also covers the necessary maintenance of the Library’s buildings, equipment, parking lots, computers and other technology. Moreover, the plan will allow the Library to maintain the service and maintenance levels described in the plan for at least ten years without a need to place additional levy requests before the voters of Clallam County. It’s called NOLS 2012 because if the levy is approved in August 2010, the additional tax revenues would begin flowing into the District in 2011, and all of the elements of the plan would be in place by the end of 2012.
In late 2009 and early 2010 the Library Board and staff sought community feedback on the draft plan in a series of town hall meetings at each of the NOLS libraries in Clallam Bay, Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim, and to civic groups, service clubs and other community organizations from Forks to Sequim. Comments and suggestions from members of the public were incorporated into the plan. Many people urged the establishment of a non-profit Foundation to help address system-wide library needs and to complement the Library’s public funding. Some attendees suggested minor adjustments to the proposed hours of service at their libraries. There were several recommendations to incorporate ways that the Library would be able to be more “green” under the plan. And there were calls for an increase to the Library’s fines for overdue materials, a matter which will be considered by the Library Board at their May 2010 meeting.
Copies of the full NOLS 2012 plan are available at each NOLS Library.
Library Board approves ballot measure for August primary election
Immediately following their approval of the NOLS 2012 plan on April 22, 2010, the Board of Trustees of the North Olympic Library System voted unanimously to pass a resolution asking Clallam County taxpayers, in the August 17, 2010 primary election, to restore the Library’s property tax levy rate from the current 33 cents to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The Board cited the fact that Washington State law changed in 2001, limiting junior taxing districts such as the Library to property tax budget increases of no more than 1% over the previous year without a vote of the people. However, in the nine years since the law changed, inflation has averaged 2.3%.
In order to balance the Library’s annual budgets, since 2002 the Board has had to cut staff and reduce hours of operation at three of the four libraries, reduce spending for books and other materials, cut staff training, defer facilities maintenance, and rely on old technology for telephone systems and other equipment.
Read the Library Board’s resolution.
Read a 2-page fact sheet about the Library and the NOLS 2012 plan.
View the NOLS 2012 presentation for your community and learn more about how the NOLS 2012 plan will impact your Library:
- For Port Angeles Library users
- For Sequim Library users
- For Forks Library users
- For Clallam Bay Library users