Spokane County Library District won’t try again on new Valley library

The Spokane County Library District has tried twice to gain approval for a $22 million bond that would make it possible to build a new library in Spokane Valley.

Voters rejected both bonds, and now the board of the library district has decided not to try a third time.

“Voters said no twice, we heard them, and we are not trying again,” said Jane Baker, communications and development officer for the Spokane County Library District. “Now we want to regroup and move on.”

The library district purchased land for a new library on Sprague Avenue, across the street from where the new city hall is being built, from the city of Spokane Valley.

One condition for the $839,285 purchase was that the city would buy the land back at the same price if the bond failed.

At the Spokane Valley City Council meeting on Dec. 29, library district executive director Nancy Ledeboer will ask the council to do just that.

The agreement with Spokane Valley was set to expire in October 2017, wrote Spokane Valley City Manager Mike Jackson in an email.

“Council and the library district could, if they choose, modify the ending date of the agreement,” Jackson wrote. “The city has basically set these funds aside until the library bond passes or the agreement is terminated.”

The $22 million bond proposal failed in August with 57.6 percent support. That was up from the 54.9 percent the measure received in April 2014. The proposal required 60 percent to pass.

Baker said the library district is asking for the money sooner because it wants to move on.

“Voters told us to make do with what we have,” Baker said. “Now it’s time to reorganize and make a new plan for the future.”