Please let City Council know you support expanding library services to underserved areas! You can contact them through the information below or attend a City Council meeting in person or online to share your thoughts. Find a list of talking points here.
Contact City Council, the Library Board of Trustees, and the Mayor by April 29th to tell them:
In the last month, I was very dismayed to learn that despite the recommendations of the Tacoma Public Library Eastside and Hilltop Feasibility Study and the Facility Advisory Committee, there will be no attempt to fund library branch restoration to the historically underserved and long-neglected Hilltop or Eastside neighborhoods. This is unacceptable. It will only continue to increase the educational, socio-economic, and informational resource divide between Tacoma communities. Since library branches nearest Tacoma’s Hilltop and Eastside neighborhoods were closed in 2011, Tacoma has overall disinvested in library services for less-affluent and more-diverse communities like Hilltop—where 20% of households live in poverty, compared to Tacoma’s overall average of 14% and Pierce County’s 10%.
I’m holding you accountable to right this wrong. I want to know how you plan to increase library outreach and resource availability—something all Tacoma residents are entitled to—to the Hilltop and Eastside neighborhoods specifically. Therefore, in the April 30th study session, I urge you, the City Council, and the Library Board of Trustees, to discuss how you plan to meet the needs of these neglected Hilltop and Eastside neighborhoods.
Or use this link to sign our community action letter to Tacoma City Council! Then send it to:
Mayor Victoria Woodards via this form.
(253) 591-5125, Constituent Services Phone: (253) 591-5000
Tacoma Library Board of Trustees: trustees@tacomalibrary.org
If you wish to contact City Council directly:
John Hines
Position 1
(253) 591-5470
jhines1@cityoftacoma.org
Sarah Rumbaugh
Position 2
(253) 591-5447
srumbaugh@cityoftacoma.org
Jamika Scott
Position 3
(253) 591-5470
jscott8@cityoftacoma.org
TBD
Position 4
(253) 591-5447
cushka@cityoftacoma.org
Joe Bushnell
Position 5
(253) 591-5447
jbushnell2@cityoftacoma.org
Kiara Daniels
Position 6
(253) 591-5470
kdaniels@cityoftacoma.org
Olgy Diaz
Position 7
(253) 591-5100
odiaz@cityoftacoma.org
Kristina Walker
Position 8
(253) 591-5470
kwalker@cityoftacoma.org