Two new county commissioners sided with outgoing Commissioner John West to ax the county’s lease with its biggest library. The library has been paying only $1 a year to rent the county-owned building in downtown Grants Pass, which has housed the library since 1959.
While the county charter states that the county will support and maintain the libraries, Commissioner West took issue.
“The charter doesn't say that it has to be for free, and this has become a burden on the taxpayer and other departments," he said at a commissioners meeting on January 6.
West was recalled by voters late last year, but won’t leave the office until the election is certified.
The library sued the county last year when commissioners allowed some residents to opt-out of the library district tax.
“So the library has done it before," said Jennifer Roberts with the group Grants Pass Friends of the Library. "I know there are people in the community who are already talking about that and thinking about the practicality of that.”
Roberts said the provision in the county charter requiring support may supply grounds for a legal challenge. The library district recently purchased land to build a new building, but construction won't start for years.
The Josephine County Library District is just getting back on its feet after the county defunded and closed the libraries in 2007. A nonprofit group was able to reopen the libraries a few years later. And voters approved a new taxing district in 2017 to provide permanent funding for the county's four libraries.
"Why do we have to fight so hard for a library in this community for years and years and years," said Roberts. "Everybody else gets one, why can't we have this service that's basic to living in a community."
Libraries have been under attack across the country, particularly because of fights over book bans. According to the Associated Press, the Missouri legislature stripped $4.5 million in public library funding from the budget in 2023, citing a lawsuit attempting to overturn a law banning sexually explicit material in school libraries.
And locally, in Klamath County, commissioners ordered the library to cancel a library-sponsored social justice book club over concerns it could be perceived as political. That decision received significant pushback from community members, who said it amounted to censorship.
In the January 6 meeting, West said the goal would be to move the Planning and Community Health departments into the library building, which is located next to the county courthouse and administrative building.
In a statement, Library Director Kate Lasky said the decision was abrupt, and undermines community trust.
“Terminating the lease with just 30 days’ notice disregards these contributions and the essential services the library provides to thousands," Lasky said. "We deserve a fair and respectful process.”
Commissioner West floated a rent of around $15,000 a month, or $1 per square foot. Roberts said that would be impossible for the library to afford.
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