The King County Library System's director proposed Jan. 14 an analytical process to determine library sites in the Highline area, but a White Center activist countered that a library's importance to a community cannot be dispassionately measured.

"Metrics don't mean anything without community," White Center Library Guild president Rachel Levine declared.
Library director Bill Ptacek also reported that with the transfer of Puget Sound Park to Burien, efforts to construct a library at the park site are dead.
"That issue is over with," Ptacek said.

In addressing the library system's planning committee at the Burien Library on Jan. 14. Levine said White Center guild members campaigned for passage of a library levy so a new 10,000 square foot library would be constructed at the current library's site.
She said the White Center and Greenbridge libraries in White Center along with the Burien and Boulevard Park libraries are doing a great job for their communities.

Levine cited the importance of current library programs for low-income White center residents.
She indicated that if King County undertook more programs to mitigate poverty, such as library classes, it might not have to set aside 70 percent of its budget for criminal justice activities.

Levine added that White Center may not meet the metrics set out in Ptacek's analysis but "one size does not fit all."
Ptacek told committee members that a service area analysis could look at combining libraries, increasing operational efficiencies and comparing library allocations.

Metrics analyzed include library uses, operational costs, cross-use and growth forecasts.
According to Ptacek's memo, "This Library Service Area Analysis would be used, when appropriate, to improve public service delivery, minimize duplication of facilities and increase efficiency of operations."

If approved by library trustees, the policy would be used to determine library placements throughout the county.
Trustee Rob Spitzer observed that the analysis seemed oriented toward consolidating libraries.
He joked that the most efficient way would be to have one giant library in the middle of the service area.

Spitzer said the analysis should add the goal of meeting community needs.
The public may comment on the proposal at the board's regular meeting on Jan. 26 or a public forum on Feb. 23.
Both meetings are at 5 p.m. at the library system's service center, 960 Newport Way N.W. in Issaquah.