Originally our library occupied one room in the Friday Harbor Town Hall building. It was staffed by volunteers without any paid employees. In June 1983 the Town notified the Library Board that the Town needed the space and the library would be required to move. The Library Board selected a closed restaurant (called the Shrimp Boat) building and sold the citizens on the purchase of the building. We were told the building was far too large for the library needs, but the building was available at a fair price. Twice since then the building has been remodeled and enlarged. The original price for the property was $230,000 which included the vacant lot in the rear.

Many library programs should be sponsored by other entities such as Parks and Recreation or the Mullis Center. Programs such as “Baby Toddler Time”, “Preschool Story Play”, “Knitting Underground”, “Dungeons and Dragons” are not what we taxpayers expect and are paying for currently at our library.

Every family today has cell phones, tablets or a personal computer. Most people today use one of these devices to look up pertinent information and do not even use the library.

The library was never intended to be “everything for everybody”. In short, let’s operate the library what it was intended for. These Superfluous programs belong elsewhere, not at our library. Without these programs, the current levy more than covers the operation expenses of our library. With all the new construction on San Juan Island, their income has grown. Please vote “NO” on the proposed requested levy.

Dave Moorhouse

San Juan Island