The Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay public libraries will be closed this week to save money in light of an anticipated $163,000 budget shortfall.
The weeklong closure, which is the first of two planned this year, will be from Monday through Saturday.
Another closure is planned from Aug. 30 to Sept. 4.
All 51 employees of the North Olympic Library System, which oversees the four public libraries, will be on an unpaid furlough during the closure.
The library’s Web site will not be available, bins for returning library materials will be locked, community meeting rooms will not be available and all library system buildings will be dark.
All libraries will reopen for business on Monday, April 5, at their regular times.
The library board is considering asking the voters of Clallam County to approve a property tax levy rate increase from 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation to 50 cents per $1,000 in November to close a budget gap caused by the cumulative effects of inflation, the loss of timber revenue and state law, which caps the library’s property tax budget at no more than a 1-percent increase per year without a vote of the people.
For more information about the library closure, visit www.nols.org or contact Library Director Paula Barnes at 360-417-8525 or e-mail director@nols.org.
