I attended the April 5 community meeting at the Federal Way 320th Library, but the online meeting summary in the King County Library System (KCLS) Director’s Report of April 26 to the KCLS Board of Trustees has statements that are not supported by what happened at the meeting.

The Director’s Report says:

“Many agreed that more parking on the site would be desirable but not at the expense of building size. The construction budget will certainly go further if most of the existing area can be maintained for use for the new building. The next meeting will be scheduled in late summer or early fall after the architects have refined the designs in response to the issues and suggestions raised during the meeting.”

I did not hear anyone in the audience or staff present express concerns about the parking vs the building size. When and by whom was this said? This is a big lot with lots of room for the additional parking which was requested by community members at the meeting.

During the meeting, Dri Branch, KCLS’s Design Representative, told the audience the next community-input meeting would be held in about two months. Having the second meeting in the summer is also reported in another part of the board’s agenda documents and contradicts what is written above in the Director’s Report. When does KCLS actually plan to hold the meeting?

The community members who attended the meeting expressed strong support and applause for several patron ideas withheld from this Director’s Report such as the following. We previously had an elegant wooden and glass display case, donated by members of the community, that was in the lobby of the 320th Library and was used by a wide variety of community groups to display their activities and interests before it disappeared without notice during the last redecoration of the library. Where did it go and can we get it back?

There were many more citizens’ ideas expressed at the meeting, well-received by the audience, but omitted from the  Director’s Report. This biased report will give the KCLS Board of Trustees an incorrect notion of what the community asked for and may affect what we actually end up with in the library. Please keep watch for and attend the next public meeting.

Margaret Nelson, Federal Way