I grew up in La Center and have fond memories of the bookmobile coming to the school or the church parking lot in town. In the 90s,
La Center didn’t have a library building, but we were able to take advantage of the incredible resources available through the Fort Vancouver Regional Library system. My sister and I found a safe place to spend many afternoons/early evenings at the Ridgefield library while my mom attended classes or meetings hosted in the community room. We were able to use the computers and explore the old downtown library across from Hudson’s Bay. I can still visualize the shelves of packaged books behind the desk that were headed to our mailboxes when we were able to pick up our holds through the mail.
The library has made many sensible fiscal decisions over the years to steward our tax dollars and keep pace with patron needs. For example, we no longer get books through the mail and we have an incredible digital library collection.
Now, they need our votes and support. It has been 15 years since the libraries have asked voters to lift the library levy rate. During that time, the district population has increased by 23%. The average homeowner will pay about $16 per month. That’s less than most streaming services, a community art class, a physical book, an audiobook, legal help, internet service, or tickets to the Lan Su Chinese Garden. Did you know that you have free access to all of these through our library? I’ll be voting yes on Proposition One, and I hope you do too.
Make sure to get your ballots returned soon! If you need help figuring out where to drop your ballot off or how to get more involved in local politics, you could ask the helpful staff at your local library branch.
Greta Stuhlsatz
La Center
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