Library ‘clustering’ gets poor review

The “clustering” that the King County Library System started last year got poor marks from a consultant who evaluated the system.

Clustering has divided more than 40 libraries into 14 clusters of two, three or four libraries. In this area, the system has merged the staffs of the Shoreline and Richmond Beach libraries, and the Lake Forest Park Library staff with the staffs of the Bothell and Kenmore libraries.

Consultant Ann McCreary of Waldon &Co. in Seattle told the System board last month that some aspects of clustering were working well, particularly in integrating the System, but that more aspects of clustering were negative, particularly in hurting the morale of employees and patrons. She said that comments on clustering were 20 percent positive and 80 percent negative.

The board tried to stop McCreary’s presentation but let her continue after pressure from the audience, including library support groups.

McCreary said that both library employees and library users universally dislike having librarians rotate among branches.

“Unless you have a very good reason for keeping [clustering], I can’t imagine retaining it,” she said, adding, “I can’t say it enough, that the ability of the system to address each community’s needs must be retained.”

Three days after the report at the Dec. 19 meeting, library managers, upset, like staff members over rotation among branches, voted to form a union.

Library supporters say that the board has delayed moving its meetings to a larger room to accommodate people coming to protest clustering and that it has let management order staff members not to discuss clustering with patrons.

Chase says she doesn’t feel snubbed by House Democrats

State Rep. Maralyn Chase said recently that she didn’t feel snubbed by other House Democrats when she was one of two members of the majority party not named a committee or sub-committee chair or vice chair.

The majority Democrats, instead, gave one chairmanship and one vice chairmanship to Republicans. House Democrats called the assignments a gesture of bipartisanship.

Chase said recently that not getting to lead a committee would not prevent her from working for the 32nd Legislative District.

“I have always worked well with people from across the political spectrum, so of course I don’t feel snubbed by the selection of [Republican] Rep. Campbell as a chair,” she told me. “My main political goal is to serve the people of my district, not to gain power for myself.”

She’ll be a member of three committees — capital budget, economic development and trade, and environmental health.

The 32nd District’s other representative, Ruth Kagi will be chairwoman of the early learning and children’s services committee and sit on the agriculture and natural resources committee, the appropriations committee and the appropriations subcommittee on education.