In November, voters who live in the Sno-Isle Regional Library System service area will have the opportunity to restore the library’s levy rate. This will ensure the same level of library service many of us have come to expect when we visit a Sno-Isle library.

However, before you vote you deserve an explanation of what you’re voting on, and why.

Last February, the Sno-Isle Regional Library System asked voters this question: Will you restore the library’s levy rate to 50 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation? Changes in state law, a falling levy rate and increasing costs compelled the library to put the measure before voters. The measure failed by 2,637 votes. A secure financial future was important enough for the Board of Trustees to consider putting the measure back on the ballot in November. But some things had to happen before that decision was made.

Following the February vote, we heard that many people were unaware of the proposition prior to the election. It had been 14 years since the Sno-Isle Regional Library System had asked the same question of voters. In addition, it was a surprise to many because in the two previous years, the Library District had not done a thorough job of explaining the financial constraints it was facing.

After February, the Board of Trustees and I decided we needed to do a better job of getting information out to our communities, and finding out what library services really mattered to the people who use libraries.

This summer, the Library District launched a broad-based information and feedback effort — to share the realities of library budgets, and to ask our customers what services they valued the most. A mailing to 167,000 library card households described the Library District’s budget situation, and invited the public to attend any of a series of 11 public meetings or participate in an online survey. In addition, we conducted a random sample telephone survey of residents. The message we received was clear: Libraries matter to us, they matter to our families, and they matter to our communities

Armed with that feedback and a projected $800,000 shortfall in 2004, the Board of Trustees voted to go back on the ballot in November. We also took to heart the feedback regarding communication about the library and levy proposition. The Library District mailed 154,000 informational postcards to registered-voter households explaining the levy measure, library staff met with more than 100 community organizations, local library boards and local Friends of the Library groups, and the Library District hosted 11 public meetings throughout Snohomish and Island counties. We wanted to be sure that we provided all of our communities with the facts about the levy, the library’s budget, and the spending adjustments we have made over the past two years.

The facts are these: The levy rate, which is capped by law at 50 cents per $1,000, decreases as property values increase. Currently, the library’s levy rate is approximately 46 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation (approximately $92 a year on a $200,000 home). The levy increase would restore the library’s levy to 50 cents, increasing the cost to that $200,000 homeowner by about $8 a year. For that additional $8 a year, library customers throughout the two counties will see consistent, maintained library service, new books on the shelves, and open hours that remain the same. Without your additional $8 per year, all libraries will be closed for one week next year, we will spend $214,000 less on books and other library materials, and four libraries will close one day a week.

Before you cast your vote on Nov. 4, I encourage you to ask the questions and gather the information you need to help you make an informed decision. Please visit the Sno-Isle Web site at www.sno-isle.org, send an e-mail to librarylevy@sno-isle.org or call me at 10-800-342-1936 with questions

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at the library.

Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory is director of the Sno-Isle Regional Library System.