Tacoma News Tribune

Yes, an article about libraries with Sh-h-h-h-h and it’s even in the title.

Actually, this is a very positive article about the goings on at the Tacoma Public Library even during a time of funding cuts.


From the Article:

There’s simply so much to do at the library these days. Besides maintaining their traditional role as the public’s key provider of books and information, libraries today serve as:

+ Job centers, where throngs of unemployed workers update résumés, learn interview skills and hunt through online job listings.

+ Tech centers, where patrons can update their Facebook pages on library computers or plug in personal laptops and connect to free WiFi. At home, library card-holders can log on to library websites to read magazines, get real-time homework help from tutors, and download audio books.

+ Education centers, sponsoring classes on computer skills and crafts, and talks running the gamut from genealogy to green household cleaners to creating publications called zines.

Entertainment and cultural centers, sponsoring movie showings, live performances and art exhibits – all free of charge.

People have really turned into themselves and are very solitary. They’re communicating on blogs and Facebook, but they don’t see people face to face. They don’t even go to work on a regular basis; they telecommunicate,” said Pierce County Library System spokeswoman Mary Getchell.

“People are yearning for this community center.”

The theme emerged while the 17-branch library system surveyed patrons last year to develop its 2030 facilities plan.

“We heard, ‘Where better to have this community center than the library?’ ” Getchell recalls. “ ‘You’re already open.’ ”

Yet at the same time people need libraries the most, libraries are facing challenges of their own.

The Pierce County Library System eliminated 24 positions this year to help cover a $1.5 million shortfall in a $28.6 million annual operating budget. The Tacoma Public Library is buying fewer books, DVDs, database subscriptions and other materials, and doing less maintenance to cope with a $1.9 million hit to its two-year budget, which now stands at $22.8 million.

Because of those funding challenges, library supporters stress that live performances, author appearances and special activities are supported through grants, donations or foundations, not taxpayer dollars.