Efforts Will Continue to Build New Library May 20, 2022
Election Day has past and most of the votes have been counted. While there may be some additional ballots yet to be received and added to the count, the outcome of Coos Bay Library Bond appears to be clear. The bond measure aimed at funding the needed, new combination library and 9-1-1 Communication Center was not approved. I understand and respect the hard decision by the voters.
While there are many who support the library and understand that the foundation of the current library building has failed, we are in difficult economic times with inflation affecting us all. There is no doubt that influenced how some voted. For others, change is difficult and the idea of moving the essential services out of the downtown area was troubling. No matter the outcome, I want to thank everyone who participated in the election by voting.
I also want to thank the Coos Bay Library staff, members of the Coos Bay Library Board, Library Foundation, Friends of the Library, Library Steering Committee, City Council, and many others for all their help in researching possible locations, conducting a needs assessment, putting together a strategic plan, participating in numerous public meetings, consulting experts, and evaluating options over the last seven plus years.
Based on the outcome of the recent vote, we did not have an agreement on how to fund the new and much needed community facility. While that is the case, I am sure we can all acknowledge the great benefit the library provides to the community, the importance of having an adequate 911 communication facility, and the need to create a space that can provide for emergency gathering / feeding services in the unfortunate circumstance such as the Cascadia event. What we might have missed in these initial discussions can now be expanded upon, given the fullness of time the election results provide. We can expand the discussion, outlining that the library is the City facility receiving the most annual visits at over 180,000 each year. I am thrilled to live in a community in which the library holds this rank, rather than the city hall/ police station! We can also take this time to expand the concept of a library, which is a rather antiquated term and not reasonably used to identify what our library is to this community. The library is more than books, so let’s identify the scope of this facility and properly address it. Perhaps the title community resource and event center is more appropriate, especially with the addition of the 911 communications center and the capacity to provide post-disaster services to our community.
At the end of the day, the work towards achieving the needed community goal to build the new facility is not over. We will need to continue working to meet the need, explore other funding alternatives, and conduct additional community education about the declining condition of the current library, a building which is living on borrowed time.
-Joe Benetti, Mayor of Coos Bay
