Residents urge council to keep Moses Lake library open as staff readies cost assessment

Dozens of residents urged the Moses Lake City Council on Tuesday to preserve the city’s public library while staff works on a building-cost assessment and related agreement language. The public-comment period drew a series of speakers who said the library provides critical services—free internet access, children’s programming and quiet study space—and asked the council to prioritize keeping it open. The appeals came during the council’s public-comment block, where residents described the library as more than books and asked the council to avoid closing or sharply reducing services. Brent Thomas, a Moses Lake resident, told the council, “The library is more than just some books to check out,” and said he used library computers while temporarily unhoused. Matt Pollock, another resident, said earlier comments by an unnamed council member had stirred community concern and asked the council to publicly affirm support for retaining the library. Several other speakers—Sylvia Hammond, Judy Hooper and Jill Springer Forrest—detailed use by children, seniors and families and urged council to pursue funding and repairs rather than closure. City staff said the library topic is being tracked as a council priority item. City Manager Doug Carlinzi noted the council’s retreat produced a set of follow-up items and that item 15 specifically calls for a “library building cost assessment” to determine the city’s costs to maintain, operate and preserve the library building, to compare city contributions to district spending, and to extend the library use agreement through Dec. 31, 2026, to allow time for the assessment. Carlinzi said staff were tracking the retreat items in Microsoft Planner and would provide clearer access to the council’s tracking tool. No formal council motion or vote about the library building, operations or a use-agreement extension occurred at the meeting. Instead, residents’ comments were entered into the record and staff indicated the item is on the council’s implementation list for follow-up. Residents emphasized recent security and maintenance work by the North Central Washington library system—Sylvia Hammond noted the system paid $11,500 for a security presence during busy hours—and asked the council to pursue grants and community fundraising to preserve library services. Staff said details such as repair costs and the city’s current cost-share with the library district are being compiled and were “not specified” during the meeting. Looking ahead, council members and staff indicated the library assessment and the possible one-year extension of the library use agreement will be tracked and returned to the council for deliberation; no adoption or amendment of the agreement was made at Tuesday’s meeting.