The Brier Library often is described by its patrons in one word — “cozy.”
Serving a town with about 6,500 residents, the four employees know many of their customers and their favorite requests by name, said branch manager Sarah Evans. People linger to talk with employees and each other.
At Brier, a library employee can take the time to teach someone how to send an e-mail to a grandchild, Evans said. It’s not as easy for librarians at bigger libraries because they have more people to serve and more items to move.
“It is very busy, but it is a different kind of busy (at Brier),” Evans said. “We can sacrifice some time. We may be a little behind on the shelving, but we can spend some time with that patron.”
Cozy also means being creative. Built in 1996, the Brier Library does not have any community rooms for library programs or public events. Regardless, Evans receives at least one call a week from someone who wants to rent a community room.
Library programs — like the monthly book club — pull together some tables and chairs in between the magazines and the videos. The popular knitting club, known as the Brier Knit Wits, attracts about 20 people, Evans said.
As many as 30 children attend the weekly storytelling programs with their parents or guardians in tow.
“When we have a program, we have to take over the library,” Evans said.
Do patrons want a community room in the Brier Library? Or is cozy better? Should it stay the way it is? What else do people want or expect the Brier Library to offer in the next 20 years?
Sno-Isle Libraries, which operates the public libraries in South County, is asking everyone — not just patrons — what they want to see in their local libraries in the future. After a round of public meetings this spring, the district’s board of trustees will outline a 20-year plan for Sno-Isle Libraries later this year.
The future of the Brier Library will be the focus of a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18, at the Brier Library. There will be no library service offered that evening, Evans said.
“Everyone in Brier has a reason to use the library. We have strong support here,” Evans said. “And because Brier needs a community center, I think people need to come and talk about that and about what they want.”
The Brier Library also has the rare distinction of being the only Sno-Isle Library that does not provide wireless Internet access to the public. Evans said it is not for lack of trying. The service provider the library district works with said there are technical difficulties that have yet to be overcome. The library is trying to resolve the issues so it can offer the service, she said.
Among patrons, one of the other most common requests is to open the library on Thursdays, Evans said. The library does not open on Thursdays because of limited staff time.
“We are looking into that,” she said. “The hold up is we would have to add a staff person. But where would we put that person?”
Right now, the four library employees — known as public service assistants — work in one back room. It is one open room that serves as a work space, kitchen, supply closet and office for four people.
The Friends of the Brier Library use the end of the room’s work table to sort and store books for the on-going book sale fundraiser. Extra chairs for library programs are stacked in front of the employees’ lockers.
“There are a lot things going on behind the scenes that people don’t see, but need to go smoothly so they have a good experience,” Evans said.
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