15-Branch Oregon Library Closes
Two other Oregon libraries in jeopardy after loss of federal timber funds
By Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 5/1/2007
The 15-branch Jackson County Library Services, Medford, OR, closed April 6, marking the largest library closure in history, according to the American Library Association, and now libraries in two other rural Oregon counties are in jeopardy. Both Josephine and Douglas counties rely on federal payments that replace county revenue from timber harvests on federal lands, State Librarian Jim Scheppke told LJ, and the renewal of such payments—part of two separate bills in the House of Representatives and Senate—is likely blocked in the short term.
That's because the renewal is attached to a funding measure that sets a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and President George W. Bush has promised to veto it. “It's really been excruciating to sit back, knowing that the Jackson County library is going to close, and the Congress and the President are going back and forth on this,” Scheppke said.
New property taxes?
The solution for all three library systems is likely a switch to funding based on property taxes, and the Oregon State Library has hired consultant Ruth Metz to advise local leaders on how to implement that. Such a solution was rejected last year by Jackson County residents, but a new election is scheduled for May 15 that would provide support over three years.
In neighboring Josephine County, a different ballot is scheduled for that date, one to support county law enforcement. The library has been reduced to “minimal operations,” Scheppke said, and if the vote is successful, that would add to the county's overall coffers and “take some of the pressure off the library.”
Douglas County, Scheppke said, has established “more of a rainy-day fund,” which has staved off immediate cutbacks, “but that library is long-term in as much jeopardy” as those in the neighboring counties. “Some people suggested the state bail out the counties,” he said, but Oregon doesn't have the money.
A new organization, Save Our Library System-YES!, has been formed to advocate for the May levy election that could reopen Jackson County library doors.
