Vote For Books
Have you tried to check out a copy of “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” lately from a Spokane County library? How about one of the Berenstain Bears books? Chances are, you’ll find those books - and hundreds of others popular among young readers - are loved to pieces.
Dr. Seuss and that nutty bear family are great, tangible examples of just how much use Spokane County libraries get. They’re well-worn, beloved and even a little tattered here and there.
The seven-library system, serving outlying areas of Spokane County, is much the same way. Use of county libraries increased 40 percent over the last eight years; the system serves more than 200,000 people across 1,700 square miles.
On Tuesday, voters in the unincorporated areas of the county and some small towns will be asked to approve a $7.66 million bond issue for a five-year program of capital improvements. It’s an entirely reasonable request.
First, the cost: less than 12 cents per $1,000 of property valuation every year for 10 years. But in two years, the county library’s 1988 bond will be paid off, so the tax rate will drop.
What you’ll get for your money is considerable. New libraries will be built in Deer Park and Airway Heights; the Cheney and Fairfield branches will be expanded. The other five libraries will see some improvements as well.
Perhaps most important is the technology this bond could buy. A new computer system in all nine county libraries would modernize a behind-the-times system. All county middle and high schools will get hooked up to the library systems; homes in the area will have the same option.
That means students and families will have the information highway at their fingertips without going to the library - an important advantage to people in outlying areas who might not be able to get to the library on a regular basis. It becomes a library without walls; unlimited knowledge available through a few keystrokes.
And, of course, the plan will make it possible to replace those precious children’s books that wear out by the hundreds every year.
This measure failed at the polls last fall, getting a 54 percent yes vote. It needed 60 percent to pass. Those 6 percentage points turned out to be only 400 votes. Officials decided to try again, given the strong support of the libraries. And they’ve spent more time this year educating voters about the pluses of the measure.
The advantages are many. We urge county residents to go to the polls Tuesday and vote yes.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Anne Windishar/For the editorial board