Restore Library Services to Tacoma Hilltop and Eastside Communities
Libraries must be re-established for the Hilltop and Eastside neighborhoods.
The tiny Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch was opened in January 1989 and closed in 2011.
It was a tragic, misguided decision. The closure deepened the historic service inequities in Tacoma.
In 2019, the Tacoma City Council took a step toward righting this wrong. A feasibility study was completed in 2022. The study provided multiple solutions for expanding library services in underserved areas of Tacoma as well as improving the main library. Now in 2023, we have yet to hear of any further action being planned to restore library services.
We need long-range financial planning with a vision of a state-of-the-art libraries in Tacoma’s two most distressed neighborhoods. With funds available from the bond issue for facilities upgrades, and the Tacoma Library System’s recommendations to put resources towards opening libraries in both the Hilltop and Eastside communities, the time to act is NOW.
As a member of the Tacoma community, I strongly urge you to work towards this goal and make sure library services are restored to Tacoma’s less affluent and more diverse communities.Please show your support by signing and sending this email to our Tacoma City Council. You may edit the letter as you wish but please be respectful.Sponsored by
