Lake Stevens outgrows library

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, August 3, 2006

LAKE STEVENS – Parents know to use the back door to get into the Lake Stevens library for story time.

When they arrive, the front door is locked; the library is closed.

Story time happens before the library opens for the day.

The building is so small, library officials said, it’s the only way to accommodate large groups.

Now, an effort is under way to find a better solution: a new library.

While still early in the process, officials are working toward building a much larger library to serve the area’s growing population.

“The community needs a new library,” Mayor Lynn Walty said. “No question about that.”

Since the existing library opened in 1983, the Lake Stevens community has grown – and now outgrown – the Main Street building.

“It served us well for a long time,” City Council member Karen Alessi said.

She helped rallied volunteers to convert an old pharmacy into the existing library.

Today, however, she acknowledges it’s time to grow.

Library manager Leo Scarpelli said the small size limits the number of books and other materials in the collection, how many computers the library can have and the events it can host.

A larger building would fix that, he said.

About six locations are being considered as potential sites, Alessi said.

Although no designs have been drawn, the building would likely be about 15,000 square feet, more than seven times the size of the current library, Sno-Isle Libraries spokeswoman Mary Kelly said.

She said creation of a library tax area, mirroring Lake Stevens School District boundaries, would need to be approved by voters. A bond measure to raise money also must be passed.

Organizers hope to have both items on the ballot by next spring.

In recent years, voters approved new libraries in Snohomish, Monroe and Granite Falls, Kelly said.

The Snohomish branch cost about $8 million while Monroe cost just under $7 million.

“Both Snohomish and Monroe have seen circulation skyrocket since they’ve opened,” she said. “And I don’t use that term lightly.”

Nancy Mitchell said the city’s first library opened in 1946 in someone’s home. Mitchell is a longtime Lake Stevens library board member who recently announced her retirement.

The collection has grown and moved several times around downtown.

Now, she said, the time has come for the library to move once again and give patrons more services.

“We are definitely a growing community with young families and a library is a marvelous experience for young children,” Mitchell said. “It opens up a whole new world to children and adults.”