Renton's KCLS Annexation: One Year Later

In 2007, the city of Renton updated its Master Plan following extensive research on how to best serve the community -- that included examining library services and comparing how Renton's libraries fared compared to others nationwide, said a city official.

“The Master Plan was at a cross roads and we (the city) needed to make investments,” said Marty Wine, assistant chief administrative officer for the City of Renton.  

Like , Renton faced two options: remain independent or annex into to the King County Library System (KCLS).

In February 2010, the City of Renton asked voters if they wanted to annex to the KCLS.

“We told voters, ‘if you vote to join the KCLS, we will use the tax dollars you are already giving us and invest it in new libraries’,” Wine said.

The annex was a “hotly” debated issue in Renton but the vote narrowly passed.

“One of the major concerns was the town would lose its small town feel,” said Erica Richey, Renton resident and member of the Renton Library Advisory Board.

Other opposing views came from people who lived in downtown Renton and were within walking distance from the library. They felt that their routine would change, said Catherine Ploué-Smith, another member of the Renton Library Advisory Board.

“They (residents against KCLS) never spoke in favor of increased services for youth, home-bounds, ESL or other people in need of more and different services,” said Ploué-Smith. “They only spoke about their own situation and wallet and I found that very disheartening.”

City Faced PDC Complaints

Currently, more than 400 Facebook fans of the Save Renton Library page reflect some of the discontent in the city regarding the annexation vote. A year has passed since this opposition group filed two complaints with the state Public Disclosure Commission, asserting that the city had presented inaccurate cost figures to voters prior to the February 2010 vote, which affected the results of this very close vote. 

According to the Seattle Times, both complaints were not investigated as the PDC sided with the city.

At the time of this writing, individuals representing the opposition could not be reached to comment on their impressions of how annexation has fared in the past year. However, periodic Facebook chatter as recently as November 2010 reflect that residents are still watching KCLS and keeping tabs on what promises were made and which may not be carried out.

Service Improvements

In March 2010, KCLS started operating the two branches in Renton in accordance with an interlocal agreement.

“The goal was that King County would have the capacity to improve quality libraries for residents,” Wine said.

KCLS increased the hours of operation and improved technology over what the city could provide, Wine said. The City of Renton will be investing in updates and renovations for its libraries through KCLS.

Richey moved to Renton three years ago and felt that the libraries in Renton were small, struggling and didn’t have much materials. She lives five minutes from the Renton Highlands branch but would drive to a KCLS library in a nearby town.

“We would drive an additional 10 to 15 minutes because there was that much more of a difference at a KCLS library,” said Richey. “For example, the amount of books that my daughter could check out.”

Now, Richey can go online and reserve books at the Renton Highlands branch and they will be waiting for her when she arrives at the library.

Richey feels that KCSL is working well with the city, has been respectful of residents’ fears about the annexation and is trying to make it a win-win situation.

“KCLS has been reaching out into the community and bringing materials to farmer’s markets, senior centers, day care and non-profit organizations,” Richey said. “They (KCLS) are doing their best to reach out to folks in the community and make a difference in Renton.”  

The libraries in Renton now have citizenship classes, technology workshops, reading times for youth and tutoring programs, as well as free printing for those with library cards; a meeting room is also available for use.

“Overall it seems that those programs have give a lot of opportunities to our community to learn, ask questions and hopefully feel that someone listens to them,” Ploué-Smith said.  
 
Ploué-Smith is hopeful that the Renton libraries will become more prominent in the Renton community life. She feels it should be a point of focus for cultural backgrounds and many activities and gathering place for people of all ages.

“Now, the library is so popular the only problem is trying to find a parking space,” Richey said.