WCLS brainstorming next steps for library

Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) is considering the next steps for the proposed Birch Bay Community Vogt Library after library supporters failed to garner enough votes to create a taxing district to pay for the library’s construction.
Proposition 2, which was on the February 8 special election, would have created a Library Capital Facility Area (LCFA) that would have established a board of trustees to issue bonds for the remaining $4 million of the library’s $6.5 million construction. Property owners in the LCFA boundaries would have paid an estimated 11 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, which comes out to be about $38 annually for a $350,000 home.
The ballot measure needed to have a 60-percent supermajority in support and 40 percent of voters from the November 2021 general election. The library vote failed 3 percent short of the supermajority, with 1,890 votes in favor and 1,426 votes, 43 percent, in opposition. 
The special election was further from reaching the supermajority than in November 2021, when the LCFA was first put on ballots. Last November, FOBBL was 26 votes away from creating the taxing district, with 59.3 percent in favor (2,145 votes) and 40.7 in opposition (1,473 votes).
WCLS executive director Christine Perkins said the library system is still interested in helping Birch Bay bring a library to the community, but what that may look like is being discussed.
“We haven’t honed into one particular option. We’re trying to keep our minds open and flexible,” Perkins said. “Our board has asked us to really think this through.”
WCLS conducted a facilities condition assessment to its 11 buildings around Whatcom County in 2021 and plans to review the results in-depth in June. This will help WCLS better understand the maintenance and funding needs for the county libraries before taking the next steps on the Birch Bay library, Perkins said.
Although everything is in the preliminary stages, Perkins didn’t rule out moving the library’s location from the waterfront property or scaling down construction costs. When asked about changing the LCFA taxing district boundaries or combining it with Blaine, Perkins said WCLS isn’t far enough along for those discussions.
“We hope to have some preliminary ideas of options by June so we can explore those further with the board,” she said. 
Birch Bay Village resident Linda Cain said she supports libraries, but didn’t believe this library was worth a tax increase.
“I have nothing in opposition to the library,” she said. “I use them all the time. What I did object to were the extravagant plans for the library. What I saw was not just a library. If they wanted a community center, then that should have been on the ballot.”
Plus, Cain added, the library wasn’t walking distance for all Birch Bay residents and many people already drive to neighboring cities with libraries for groceries and other necessities. Cain said she hopes the library isn’t put through another election and would prefer the funds be directed to flood relief and people who have lost their job in the pandemic.
“I’m not saying we don’t need a library, but we don’t need that library they’re proposing for $6.5 million,” she said. “I don’t think it had to be that expensive and in that spot.”
WCLS spent close to $5,000 for holding the ballot measure in the November election and is still calculating the cost for the February election, Perkins said. The Birch Bay library would have been the first library in the county funded through a LCFA.
The library system has spent over $771,000 on costs associated with the library, most of which encompasses the $677,000 property purchase in 2017 and almost $90,000 for architecture services. WCLS does not typically pay to build a library, only the interior of the building such as furniture and books, but paid the $771,000 costs upfront with the understanding library supporters would eventually reimburse those expenses, Perkins said.
The estimated $6.5 million library included $3.9 million for construction, $1.1 million in design and administration fees, nearly $869,000 in escalation from 2020 to 2023 and the $677,000 property purchase, according to information Perkins provided.
If the LCFA had passed, Perkins said taxpayers would not have paid extra if the library cost more than the $6.5 million. The difference would have been covered by the library system or private donors.
If the ballot measure had passed, the library could have opened as soon as 2023.
The $4 million from property taxes would have served as a major boost for the project that has had grassroots-group Friends of the Birch Bay Library (FOBBL) raising funds for several years through community events and donor contributions, like a $100,000 donation from BP Cherry Point in 2019. FOBBL president Dianne Marrs-Smith, who is also Lynden’s library manager, said the organization has raised $200,400 to date.
State representatives also helped FOBBL secure a $2 million state appropriation in 2019 that is dependent on FOBBL fundraising the remaining amount. The appropriation was set to expire last June, but has been extended until 2023.
Marrs-Smith estimates the group has spent over 10,300 hours working on bringing a library to Birch Bay through volunteering, planning, events and meetings. About 120 people have volunteered throughout the years, she said.
“For the friends, we need to go back to fundraising and work with the library system and see what we can do,” Marrs-Smith said. “We’re taking a few weeks off after the two elections.”
FOBBL plans on hosting an online fundraiser for Library Giving Day on April 6 and putting on a book sale at the Birch Bay Kite Festival in June.
In the meantime, the bookmobile will remain at the proposed Birch Bay library property 3-7 p.m. every Wednesday.
“We don’t have a lot of facilities here,” Marrs-Smith said. “I’m a big advocate for library services and I felt it would be a real benefit for our community to have a year-round facility.”