PORT TOWNSEND — A national trade magazine has singled out the Port Townsend Public Library as one of three “star libraries” in Washington state and among 262 top libraries nationwide.
“This is great for us. It’s like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for libraries,” said library Director Theresa Percy.
She received the news about Library Journal’s recognition of the library in its November issue as she and her staff prepare for a temporary move during a planned seismic retrofit of the library building.
The Port Townsend Library was given a three-star rating.
“It recognizes our ability to deliver services,” Percy said.
“Even as we’ve had to cut back, the demand for library services has increased.”
Library Journal’s fourth national rating of public libraries, the LJ Index of Public Library Service 2011, identified the top libraries out of 7,513 nationwide libraries using 2009 data, the journal said on its website at www.libraryjournal.com.
Libraries were given ratings of three, four or five stars in their budget categories.
The Port Townsend Library, which has a $900,000 annual budget, was in the $400,000-to-$999,999 budget range category.
The award is based on the facility’s budget as it translates to circulation, program attendance and in-library Internet use.
The library boasts 29.6 visits per capita — the highest in Washington state, Percy said.
The magazine also recognized the Seattle Public Library with five stars in its category of $30 million and the Lopez Island Library District with four stars in its category of $200,000 to $399,900.
While the Port Townsend Library will use the national recognition to raise its visibility, it must immediately increase its urgency in the search for a temporary home.
The library is scheduled for a seismic retrofit this spring, during which time the walls and roof will be shored up to make them “earthquake proof” while other repairs will be conducted.
The cost of the retrofit will be subsidized by a $600,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency — or FEMA — grant and $260,000 in city funds.
This amount includes the cost of relocating library inventory for the six months needed for the retrofit along with funds allocated for rental of the temporary space.
On Thursday, Percy and City Manager David Timmons visited Mountain View Commons to judge its suitability and came to no conclusions, Percy said.
She said the library also is looking at the possibility of renting the space at 1121 Water St., which formerly housed Swain’s Outdoor and which has been vacant since the store closed in February.
That site is also under consideration by the Quimper Mercantile Exchange, which hopes to open a Port Townsend retail outlet in 2012.
Percy said the library wants to rent about 6,500 square feet for the temporary move, with a strong preference that it all be on one level.
Once the seismic retrofit is completed, the library will look toward raising money for the remainder of its $9 million renovation project.
In addition to the $600,000 in FEMA grant funds — and a $260,000 city match — already received, the library has nearly $800,000 in private donations in hand and is optimistic about an additional 500,000 in grants, Percy said.
An additional $3.5 million from the U.S. Rural Development division and $375,000 from the state’s heritage capital projects fund have not been received as expected, causing a shortfall of those amounts.
“There are funds that we thought were secure that we aren’t going to get,” Percy said.
With these losses, the library still must raise about $7 million, Percy said.
Revenue from a city levy lid lift approved by voters in 2008 to benefit the public library, which will bring in $2.9 million in 2011, is earmarked for operations and cannot be used for capital projects, Percy said.
“There is money coming in all the time, so I’m not worried,” she said.
“We are getting different parts done one at a time so we can decide what we can afford to do next as the funds become available.”
For information about how to donate, visit the Friends of the Library, www.ptpubliclibrary.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
