Grandview pledges funds to library with YVCC

GRANDVIEW, Wash. -- City leaders here have promised to pay for the remainder of a new library shared by the city and Yakima Valley Community College.

However, they still hope they don't need to.

At a special meeting Monday, Grandview City Council members unanimously approved a commitment to contribute up to $750,000 toward a new library proposed for the Grandview campus of the community college.

That's roughly how much the college has left to raise toward the $4 million library. The state has promised $2 million while the college has raised about $1.3 million in federal grants and private donations.

College officials will continue raising funds, said Bryce Humphreys, dean of the Grandview campus. But the college needed a promise on paper from the city for the rest before the state's new budget year, which starts July 1, he said.

Construction bids are expected sometime early next year, Humphreys said.

The community college and the city began discussing the idea of a shared library in 2007.

Currently, the college has no library, only a slow system of ordering books from the Yakima campus, Humphreys says, and an online database for student use. Meanwhile, study space is limited to a few scattered tables and couches in a lunch room and hallways.

The city library operates from a cramped space downtown, often turning away donated books or selling them to make room. The proposed 12,000-square-foot facility would be twice the size.

The new library would be located between the Grandview senior center and the main college building along Second Street.

The Grandview library is the only one in the Yakima Valley that has not annexed into a regional district. The partnership with the college will not prevent that in the future, said Scott Staples, city administrator.

To come up with its share, the city would borrow the money from the state sometime in 2010 or 2011. The state treasurer's office has promised the loan would be honored, Staples said.

Council members expressed concern about borrowing money, but believed it would be a worthwhile investment.

"We're trying to make Grandview a college community," said Councilman Jesse Palacios. "(To do that) we obviously need a library."

The move might save city money in the long run, officials say, by allowing the city and the college to share the operating costs. In turn, the students and residents would share the meeting rooms, computers and reference materials.

The city spends about $230,000 per year running its current library, Staples said. Last summer, the city scaled back the hours at the library and eliminated the position of a retiring library technician to save money.

Meanwhile, the city is negotiating to sell the senior center to the college and use the money to renovate the current library into a community center, which would hold senior activities. The appraised value of the senior center is $310,000, Staples said.

The college has been using the senior center as classroom space for two years, Staples said.

* Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com.