2024/02/14 Council Agenda Packet

From: Aarene X <aarenex@haikufarm.net> Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2024 5:23 PM To: DL‐Council Subject: [EXTERNAL] Sno‐Isle annexation of Everett Libraries? CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Here are my thoughts about the proposed annexation of the Everett Public Library (EPL) with the Sno-Isle Library System. (short version): please, no. (long version): Having recently transferred from a large library system (KCLS) and having also worked for Sno-Isle years ago (Mukilteo branch), I can say with authority that the Everett Library as part of the City of Everett team offers the superior employee experience and excellent value-for-dollar to our library users. In Everett we have nimbleness and flexibility. Our staff plan events, collections and activities with Everett library users in mind, without funneling every move through a hierarchy of committees and supervisors in a process designed to water down or wash out sparks of individuality, creativity, originality, and diversity in favor of creating a uniform, system-wide experience for library users. Being part of the City means that our projects support--and get support from--other City departments. A good example is the small vegetable garden on the west balcony of the main library, which provided 10 pounds of green beans to the Food Bank in 2023. I planned and planted the garden in a series of library events for children and families when we launched the Un-Bee-Leafable Seed Library, and the whole project was made possible by support from Everett Parks Department and Everett City Facilities, and was sponsored with in-kind donations from local businesses such as the Everett Farmer's Co-op. Relationships with those agencies belong to the Everett Library and staff, not to Sno-Isle. The Seed Library itself has no parallel in Sno-Isle. In my experience, a collection that has no parallel in Sno-Isle eventually becomes a thing that no longer exists at Sno-Isle. Sno-Isle does a very good job of bringing a uniform collection of materials and programs to their library users. Residents of Everett already have full access to those. EPL, as a separate entity, provides alternatives to the uniform collection, and these enriching alternatives are specifically targeted to Everett Library patrons. Closer to me personally: a single building with 4.5 FTE youth services specialists also has no parallel in Sno-Isle, which hires non-librarians (at significantly lower salary) to lead storytimes and other children’s events. Having other specialist librarians immediately adjacent, rather than located in buildings scattered around two counties, means that at EPL we are able to collaborate and create amazing events and services that are not possible within the Sno-Isle framework. EPL recently hired a fundraising and marketing coordinator who is already taking steps to boost library visibility and private funding of library services. With this income, the library would need less City funding in the future. Give Anna Claire Laush a chance to do the job she was hired to do rather than hand the library off to another entity. Our library users reap the benefit of our specialists, collaborations, and in-city relationships and so do our employees. I urge the council to look elsewhere in the quest to save money. Sincerely, Aarene Storms, youth services librarian Everett Public Library ‐‐ Aarene Storms (she/her) aarenex@haikufarm.net