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November 10, 2017
T he C olumbia P ress
Library: Technology and better hours to come
Continued from Page 1
the library’s site manager.
“This is the first time I’ve ever
looked forward to making a
budget.”
For 15 years, Warrenton’s
property owners have paid
9 cents per $1,000 of their
property’s assessed value to
support a small library based
in a city-owned building in
Hammond.
But that money hasn’t gone
very far and the library has
been open only 22 hours a
week with a part-time site
manager. And technology?
Fuhgetaboutit.
A year ago, the building’s
structural deficiencies re-
quired the city to find a new
library location and, during
the summer, it was moved
into a downtown commer-
cial building on Main Ave-
nue. The building is owned
by the Warrenton-Ham-
mond School District, which
hopes to sell it. A city pur-
chase would have to be done
without library levy money,
although the old library in
Hammond could be sold to
offset the cost of buying the
new building. But those deci-
sions are in the future.
Warrenton’s voters have
chosen to tax themselves 33
cents per $1,000 of assessed
value, or $49.50 for a home
assessed at $150,000. The
tax begins in the 2018-19 fis-
cal year and continues for five
years.
The current levy brings in
less than $42,000 per year.
The city has had to use mon-
ey from other city programs
to supplement shortfalls in
the library budget, includ-
ing paying the rent, which is
$25,000 per year.
The levy approved this week
is expected to raise $187,000
per year.
“We’re thrilled and excited
to have the library continue
operating and I think we’re
going to continue to see usage
grow and it will promote ac-
tivity and growth downtown,”
City Manager Linda Engbret-
son said. “The funding won’t
kick in until July of next year,
but we’re ready to get going
and expand services there for
our residents.”
First in line is technolo-
gy. The city hopes to win a
grant to install an automated
checkout system right away.
If that’s unsuccessful, the
automation will come later,
once the levy money comes
in, Calog said.
“Seriously? C’mon!” Calog
said as she held up the rubber
stamp she was using to check
in books on Wednesday.
Other improvements:
• Increasing hours of oper-
ation to at least 30 hours per
week.
• Increasing the hours of the
paid staff.
• Adding E-books to the
available selections.
Group offers specialized emergency training
The local Community Emer- saster preparedness training
gency Response Team, or course Nov. 17-19 at Camp
CERT, will have a 21-hour di- Kiwanilong in Warrenton.
Kimber Townsend, a Polk
County CERT educator, will
lead the course, covering
topics such as hazards that
may impact the area, basic
disaster response skills, light
search and rescue, team orga-
nization and disaster medical
operations.
Once trained, CERT mem-
bers can join their local team
or simply use the skills to
improve their personal level
of preparedness and assist
others in their neighborhood,
community or workplace fol-
lowing an event when profes-
sional responders are not im-
mediately available to help.
To sign up, contact Clatsop
County Emergency Manage-
ment, 503-325-8645.