I have been reading KCLS’ latest plans for our library for a month or so now, and I am appalled. Appalled and disgusted that after our hard work and victory last year, we are still threatened with the prospect of getting a shrunken library. For the seventh biggest city in the state – and still growing – to wind up with less space instead of more is utter insanity.

We might not just lose up to half or more of our book space, but room for reference and job-search materials. All this would hurt more people than you could ever suspect.

When someone takes an ESL class or gets help making a resume, they are on the way to getting better job and a more stable future. When kids venture into the stacks or consult encyclopedias for help with their homework, they have a chance of getting a better grades. When little kids enjoy songs and stories, the books nearby will be the next target of their curiosity, and a new generation of successful adults will result. I don’t see how all of this can possibly fit into a 30 percent smaller space. And if any of it is taken away, that will degrade the future for all of us.

Books aren’t going to go out of style any time soon, no matter what the proponents of various electronic devices might claim. Not all of us can afford such devices, and even if we could, not all of us would find them more convenient than books. As for computers, where will we possibly find space for all of the ones we’ve got – which are usually from 80 percent to 100 percent occupied when I come in, and at least some of which we paid for ourselves before KCLS ever came on the scene?

Size matters. A growing and diverse city needs more, not less, of everything a library can provide.

The KCLS website talks about how they value convenience for patrons – how convenient is it to have to put in a hold, or wait at a filthy bus stop to go to another branch because what you need is not here any more? We have started to hear much about “food deserts”; a “library desert” is not something I would wish on anyone either.

I just can’t believe that the “columns and crossbars” mentioned on page 13 will preclude making use of all the present space we have. If Ptacek and his architects really are as smart as they want us to think they are, they should be able to find a way to make whatever adjustments are needed for plumbing, utilities and so on without removing any part of the floor space (or cutting into the supporting structure and endangering river life.) If there is no way that can be done, why then the structure can be extended northeast and southwest over the land. As for the entrance, I haven’t seen people in wheelchairs having any problem with it the way it is.

KCLS is not only doing its level worst to ravage one of our most vital resources, but to this they are adding the insult of not listening to us, of acting like they know more about our needs than we do, all the while they gobble up our tax money – more than we paid when our library was city-run. We who voted to annex into it, which I must remind you was a very small majority, are starting to be really sorry that we did so. In fact, we have had enough, and we are ready to take our library back if our voices do not begin to be heard.

Now I want to thank you for keeping me apprised of this mess ever since it began and invite you to join me in urging all the people of Renton to demand that KCLS pick up the clue phone.

Kerrick Mainrender,

Renton