Kirsten Rohla

Libraries provide a foundation for all communities, but especially for small rural communities like Wallowa County. While many people think of libraries nostalgically, remembering a time when all they could do was check out a book, libraries today do so much more and are capable of growing with the needs of their communities.

It is time to consider the growth of the libraries of Wallowa County. The best way to do this is by voting for the proposed library district, which will be on your ballot in May, and by encouraging your friends and neighbors to do the same.

The main opposition argument to creating a library district is the proposed 65-cent tax per thousand of dollars on the assessed value of your home. To be clear, the assessed value is not the price you get when you sell your home. It could easily be 50K less.

For example, even if you sell your home for 150K, the assessed value may be 100K. This means under the proposed tax, you would pay $65 per year, which comes to only $5.42 per month, per household. To calculate your own household’s yearly tax, multiply .65 by the assessed value of your home, then divide by 1,000. Divide that number by 12 to get the monthly cost.

There is a lot that $5.42 a month can do for you, your family and friends and your community.

First, the operating hours of every single library in the county will increase. Between the County Library and the libraries at Enterprise, Imnaha, Joseph, Troy and Wallowa, there are only 96 operating hours per week, with very limited evening and weekend hours. With the district in place, that number is proposed to go up to 174, nearly double.

Next, services and programs will increase. Our libraries have an incredible range of services and programs, and with the increase of hours and personnel, they will only get better.

One such program is the addition of community classes for things such as learning new technology like the Kindle or iPad.

Without a library district, however, all current county library services will end. The two most well-known services are the Deliver-Me-A-Book program (for seniors, the homebound and daycares) and the Training Wheels program for children, which has 11 different sub-programs, such as children’s storytimes, newborn baby book bags, free children’s books and the Read 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge.

Without a library district, people who live in one city will no longer be able to go to another city’s library without paying a substantial fee for services and activities.

In addition to maintaining and increasing current services and programs, the library district will change the way you view libraries. Libraries are not simply a place for children’s storytimes, for the booklover to check out the newest book in a series or for a community member without a computer to use the Internet.

With the new district in place, the library will be better able to serve additional populations, such as creating spaces and activities for teenagers and adults who don’t currently utilize the library. It is an investment in the community, in the future of our children and in our own personal lives.

If you are interested in volunteering or otherwise helping create a successful library district, please visit, like, follow and share our Facebook page Wallowa County Citizens to Save the Library. Information will be posted for volunteer opportunities.

In the meantime, please discuss the possibility of a library district and what it can do for our county with your family, friends and neighbors. When we help one, we help all.

Kirsten Rohla of Joseph serves on the board of the Wallowa Valley Library Foundation.