Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 4, April 2003

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Four branch libraries to close

By MATTHEW PREUSCH

Overcrowding at Seattle Public Library branch facilities was one of the reasons that prompted voters to approve the $196 million "Libraries for All" bond in 1998. The money is to pay for the renovation and expansion of several neighborhood libraries throughout the city as well as construction of a new branch library in the Northgate area.

But before the situation improves, it's going to get worse. A lot worse.

Starting this month, branch libraries in North Seattle will start going out of service due for construction and renovation, and they won't reopen for at least a year until the capital improvement projects have been completed. But because of a scheduling glitch, four of North Seattles popular branches will be closed at the same time.

The Green Lake branch closed in December, while the North East branch will close on Saturday, April 19. The Greenwood and Lake City branches are set to close in the summer.

Seattle Public Library officials are scrambling for ways to deal with the crunch of new customers who will likely fan out to remaining branch libraries that will still be open.

"I would be crushed" to have to go to another branch library, said Meghan Peterka as she stood outside the Lake City branch while her daughter Devon, 5, and son Zeth, 3, chased squirrels. "We come here so often and to know that we would have to commute when we want to stay locally it's really a tragedy."

It wasn't supposed to be that way, say Seattle Public Library officials.

"The original timeline and the construction schedule for the projects were staggered, and they were not scheduled to be offline at the same time," explained library spokeswoman Caroline Young Ullmann. "We're taking several steps to provide service during the closures."

Young Ullmann said a number of snags in the design stage of the projects, especially at the historical landmark-protected Lake City and Green Lake libraries, pushed those projects back to coincide with the commencing of the construction at the Greenwood and North East branches.

What's more, the Seattle Public Library's plans to open its new Northgate Library also got delayed because of the controversy over the siting of the new branch, as well as a proposed Northgate Community Center and new community park.

To alleviate the situation, the Seattle Public Library will open a temporary "micro-library" in a former bank along 5th Avenue NE, across from the Northgate Mall. Young Ullmann said library users will be able to pick up pre-requested books there, as well as browse a small collection of books on hand. They will also be able to search the Seattle Public Library database by computer. The option of adding Internet-ready computers at the temporary site is also under discussion.

But most of the traffic at the closed libraries will probably be redirected north to the Broadview Library, which is already stressed by shortened hours to due city-wide budget cuts, according to Beth Kashner, the branch's reference librarian.

"We're already busy because of our shortened hours, anyway. All the people that used to come are condensed into less hours. That on top of all the closures; we are expecting a lot more business," Kashner said.

At the Greenwood Library, which is expected to reopen as a much larger, $9 million facility in late summer 2004, the staff are already dealing with the overflow from the recently shuttered Green Lake Library. Francesca Wainwright, Greenwood branch manager, has seen a lot of new faces lately.

"We've noticed a big bump in terms of the number of people that are coming in the door, the amount of holds behind the desk, and the books we're checking out," Wainwright said. "When Lake City closes, Broadview is really going to see a big jump in people."

Whether increased staffing at other branch libraries, the Northgate micro-branch, and the opening this fall of the new Central Library in downtown Seattle can handle the increasing number of library users is one question.

Whether branch employees are going to keep their jobs is another. On that point, Seattle Public Library officials are adamant.

"No one will lose their job," said Bobbie Daniel, branch manager at the North East Library.

Lake City Library's new branch manager, Andy Bates, who arrived in December, agrees. "No one will be without a job," he said. "Employees will be deployed somewhere else."

Aside from filling gaps at other branches, Bates said some of the library employees displaced by the construction projects will be reassigned to help complete the Seattle Public Library's conversion to radio frequency-tracking of its collection. Others will be asked to staff the warehouse that will hold the books and materials from the branches that are being temporarily closed.