Via email:

Last night the Timberland Board of Trustees voted to move forward on going out for a levy lid lift on February 3, 2009, to raise the current amount of 34.5 cents per one thousand dollars of assessed value of a property to 50 cents per thousand dollars. If the levy lid lift passes it will go into effect January, 2010.

...the TRL Board has (also) adopted the following: starting Sunday, October 5, all TRL libraries will be closed on Sundays; a hiring freeze is effective immediately, the materials budget will be decreased by $367,000; and the substitute budget will be drastically reduced

More info on the levy lid lift here:

In the 40 years Timberland Regional Library (TRL) has served the public, it has never asked the voters to increase its levy rate. Approximately 80 percent of TRL’s revenues come from property taxes. But since its passage Initiative 747 has strongly impacted TRL by mandating the limit of a 1 percent annual increase. This has resulted in the library levy rate dropping from 50 cents to 34.5 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. Inflation, 4.5 percent this year, has also impacted TRL as it has impacted other agencies, businesses and individuals. For the last two years, TRL has had to use its reserves to maintain library services. At the current service level, the reserve fund will be depleted by 2011.

In my short time at the Friends of the Olympia Library meetings, I've learned so much about how the library operates, most especially about how little they actually get by on. So many of the extras that the library provides are actually provided by groups similar to the Friends. The levy lid lift, in my opinion, is very important to ensure that the library services we get continue.

And, more information here:

Michael Crose, manager of economic services for TRL, said reserves have been used to maintain services over the past two years. It spent $62,000 from the reserves last year, he said, but budgeted for $1.9 million in 2008. Those reserves will be completely exhausted by 2010 or 2011, Crose said.

The reserves, along with a construction allowance, has helped the district stay afloat, he added. “Its really been helping us stay ahead of the situation as far as being able to help maintain the district,” Crose said. “That’s starting to disappear.”

Eighty percent of the library district’s revenue comes from property taxes levied from five counties: Lewis, Grays Harbor, Mason, Pacific and Thurston. Ballot Initiative 747, championed by Tim Eyman, mandates a maximum 1-percent annual increase. In order to raise the tax, voters must first approve it.

The initiative has resulted in the library levy rate dropping from 50 cents to 34.5 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value on each property in the district. Crose said it would be premature to guess exactly what TRL may ask voters to approve. It could be an increase to 42 or 43 cents or it could be a return to 50 cents per thousand. “Our needs are starting to exceed our resources and that’s why we’re starting to face this problem,” Crose said, noting that the district levied a total of $15.3 million through property taxes last year.