New director, new day for Mercer Island library remodel
At the Mercer Island Library Board meeting at the Mercer Island Library on Monday, January 26, a KCLS staff member announced, “My take on it [the KCLS plans for Mercer Island Library] is that the plans that we were all operating off of before are dead. I really think we are going to start fresh from scratch—at zero point zero. I like what the [Library] Board is saying about developing goals that are written around the purpose you are trying to achieve or what outcome you want to see. The ‘how we get there’ is where we get into the true collaboration where Gary [Wasdin]’s involved, the Board’s involved, and the community’s involved through multiple outreach events.” January 26 was also the first work day for new KCLS Director Gary Wasdin.
Now, Mercer Island Library Board members will work through the month of February to solicit input and goals from community groups and individuals pertaining to the three objectives citizens voted for in the 2004 KCLS bond issue: (1) necessary updates, (2) access to more books and materials, and (3) an automatic book and materials handling system [or receipts for returned materials].
The Concerned Citizens will meet Thursday, February 5, at 7 p.m. at the Mercer Island Community Center to continue planning and coordinating outreach to community groups in order to support the work of the Library Board by gathering community input. Please join us. The budget KCLS allotted for the Mercer Island library is $3.4 million. Islanders now have the opportunity to maintain what we love and value about our library, while updating it for the future. Concerned Citizens will be working to assure that the collaborative process described by the KCLS staff member includes all the stakeholders—KCLS, Mercer Islanders, and architects.
Your opinions and ideas are vitally important to us. Please take a few moments now to email the Concerned Citizens at libraryremodel@gmail.com and tell us:
1) What you like about our library
2) What updates you would like for our library
3) Additional books and materials you would like in our library.
We will gather all of your ideas and share them with KCLS, the Library Board, and the architects.
For more information please visit our website at www.LibraryRemodel.org.
Meg Lippert,
Secretary,
Concerned Citizens for the Mercer Island Library
Thank you Mercer Island Schools Foundation
Island Park Elementary third grade students and teachers would like to thank the Mercer Island Schools Foundation for sponsoring our field trip to the Hibulb Cultural Center. What an amazing opportunity to view and to learn about Native American cultures and artifacts here in Washington state.
Tiffany Nelson
Cheryl Sandstrom
Meredith Carlson
Stephanie John-Lewis
Island Park Elementary School
President Obama’s college proposal
President Obama’s new America’s College proposal is an intriguing idea that might be in the right direction for a more affordable education to Americans who want to further their learning. I think the intent behind the proposal is a welcoming thought to the expensive college route for students, but it makes me question how the proposal would play out.
If the proposal is successful, I wonder how the funding would be gathered to pay these students. How would current education programs work with this new proposal? How would this affect current college students who already are paying for their education?
Would a 2.5 gpa be sufficient to offer students two years of community college? What about students who are finishing up their education in universities? Could the proposal benefit these students as well? Would this be more effective than attempting to lower the cost of tuition for all schools?
Paying for higher education is costly and this could have a significant impact on changing the future. I think this proposal has a strong potential to turn out well for bringing more students to be motivated for their education, but clearly a lot of work and careful thinking should be done to accomplish the focus of improving the nation’s education.
Riku Furuya
Bellevue
