If you have arrived at this website for the first time as a result of the link posted in today's Bellingham Herald article about branch libraries, then I welcome you and hope you return occasionally. We will be posting more on the library issue during this year. Actually, the Herald did not make a hot link from their website but only included 'nwcitizen.us' as plain text. And the Herald online article will disappear in a few days as they routinely purge stories from their website - a practice that works against more people visiting their website.

The article referred to my post "Branches are better" - which is linked at the bottom of this page.

Sam Taylor, the reporter, quoted me accurately and got the story right, in my opinion. He had one factual error: he wrote that I have been a "staple" at library board meetings, whereas in truth, I have made few of them these past few years. Sam is new to the area and in his experience I have been there often. I have closely followed the library board's actions via discussions with the board members and reading the minutes of their meetings when I did not attend. The point is I'm probably current on the issues.

Our city hall - mayor, council and library - plan to ask us citizens to vote approval of a $20 million to $60 million bond issue later this year - supposedly for a needed new central library. This will be an almost complete waste of money as much will be for a parking garage for city and county employees and a new central library that will not serve the changing needs of adults and school kids. We need to spend $100 thousand to $200 thousand on a study - a comprehensive and objective study - to determine our best course for the future. So far, a group of complete amateurs - our well-meaning library board members - have simply been told repeatedly for years by library staff that a main library is the only solution. That is not intelligent planning.