NEWS
B Y K E L LY K E N O Y E R
DOUGLAS COUNTY
TO SHUTTER
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
The Shedd Institute
www.theshedd.org - 541.434.7000
Don & Annette
DeZarn
Loss of timber money has led to a county financial crisis
n the coming months, all eleven of Douglas County’s public libraries will close due
to severe county budget shortfalls brought on by the loss of federal timber revenue.
The county is facing a devastating budgetary crisis that will continue for the fore-
seeable future, with most non-vital services being cut. Even the sheriff’s department
may face a cut of two-thirds.
The ten smaller libraries throughout the county will shut down operations April 1, and
the Roseburg Library will close May 31.
Historically, most of Douglas County’s budget came from the timber harvest on federal
forestlands, which make up 54 percent of land in the county. According to Douglas County
Commissioner Gary Leif, “When we take a tree down and harvest a tree, we replant it, but
we make about $500 per tree.”
After the environmental movement in the ’90s moved to protect spotted owl habitat,
Leif says, the $50 million the county used to receive each year from timber sales trickled
to a stop.
A federal safety net program called Secure Rural Schools temporarily filled the gap,
but the final federal check to the county came last year. “Now we’re down to $8.8 million
(in revenue in the current budget) and we have to run a huge operation without that timber
revenue,” Leif says.
The libraries are closing despite efforts last year to protect their portion of the budget.
Last year a ballot measure to create a library district failed, partly because it would have
increased property tax by 44 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Library director Harold Hayes says “there was a lot of misinformation out there” about
the measure, adding that many citizens in the community don’t support tax increases for
any reason.
Although the board of commissioners is closing the libraries, Commissioner Leif says
volunteer operations and city governments may take over the existing library buildings,
along with their book collections and computers, to continue providing library services.
Two cities in the county, Oakland and Sutherlin, have already signed intergovernmental
agreements to open libraries under a “reading room” model, allowing citizens in those
towns to have continued access to library resources. Leif is working with the Library Fu-
tures Task Force to find workable solutions in individual communities and is even working
to get computers donated.
Library director Hayes says, however, that the reading rooms can never match the full
services of a public library. “We live in a demographic where many, many people don’t
have a computer, so the library was one of those venues where they could do something as
simple as apply for a job.”
Hayes says he’s proud of the library system’s pre-kindergarten literacy programs and
doubts volunteers can keep a library reading room open forever. “Public libraries are called
public for a reason,” he says. “When you get down to brass tacks, if you no longer have
public funding, then how are you going to come up with a similar amount?”
Commissioner Leif agrees that the reading rooms aren’t a long-term solution, though he
does view them as a stopgap allowing cities and citizens to make their own choices about
the future of the library. These short-term solutions fill the gap while he seeks broader fund-
ing from grants and the state and federal government, he says.
“There’s a lot of things we’ve been doing for a lot of years that we think are important
for the community,” Leif says. “We just simply can’t write the check anymore.”
Hayes isn’t optimistic. “What public libraries do for a community is absolutely funda-
mental, and Douglas County won’t have that.”
I
March 30
Ana Popovic
Carl Woideck
Jazz Heritage
The Uncovered
Miles Davis
Thu, April 6
Other shows coming up at The Shedd
3.30
4.6
4.14
4.15
4.20
4.22
Ana Popovic
Carl Woideck: Miles Davis
Honey Whiskey Trio
A Night of Vocal Arts
Väsen
The Magical Moombah!
Rumbles Rockin’ Roundup
4.22 Alasdair Fraser / Natalie Haas
4.26 Helen Sung
4.28-30 Siri Vik: Femme Fatale
5.03 Marc Cohn
5.04-7 Evynne Hollens CSP IV
RED BARN
N AT U RA L G R O C E RY & D E L I
S MOOTHIE M ADNESS !
$1 00 OFF ORGANIC FRUIT SMOOTHIES
FROM OUR DELI IN THE MONTH OF MARCH
4 TH & B LAIR • 541-342-7503 • 8 AM -11 PM D AILY (D ELI 8 PM )
The Shedd Community Music School
Music classes & private lessons: 541.434.7015 / registrar@theshedd.net
eugeneweekly.com • March 30, 2017
7