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Library correction and comment
Last week I wrote an article about the Quincy City Council’s decision to explore the idea of ending the city’s relationship with North Central Regional Library.
My article had one significant error that I felt was too important to leave to a minor correction note. In my article, I wrote that the council was exploring the idea ending a contract between the city and NCRL for library service. That was incorrect, because the city does not contract with NCRL for library service. The city is in fact a part of the NCRL’s district. The city annexed into the library district in 1982.
City property taxpayers contribute to the library district through an assessment on their property taxes like all other property owners within the NCRL district, which includes Grant, Douglas, Chelan, Okanogan and Ferry counties.
Last year, the City of Quincy property taxpayers paid about $400,000 to the NCRL.
To help offset the expense of owning a library operated by NCRL, the library district gives back some money to the city at a formula of $3 a square foot. There is currently a dispute between the city and library district over whether or not the district will reimburse the city for square footage of the whole property and not just the building.
That dispute has led to Mayor Jim Hemberry and members of the City Council wanting to explore whether or not the city is getting its money’s worth from the library district. At the rate of $400,000 a year, could the city provide a better library for Quincy than the NCRL?
That’s a question that should be explored in my opinion. But I also think the city needs to think long-term when it gets beyond the exploring phase. Sure, the city has money to pour into a library now. But will that always be the case? What if the city government isn’t so flush with cash a decade from now? It’s likely that library services, which generate little revenue, might be one of the first places to make budget cuts.
It would be a shame if we didn’t have any money to stock the shelves or keep the doors open to our amazing new library.
