SPOKANE, Wash. — Officials with the Spokane Public Library system are hoping voters will pass a $77 million bond to upgrade its facilities and add new locations.
Eva Silverstone has been a friendly face welcoming many to the public library downtown for the past 16 years.
She, along with many at the Spokane Public Library system, are hoping a bond will pass to modernize the structure and technology offered to the public.
Spokane Public Library officials are also hoping to use money from this bond to add new branches in Hillyard, Liberty Park and Libby Center.
Silverstone said many of these buildings were built in the 1990s and it is time for an upgrade that would benefit many people who use the public library system.
“No matter who you are, you are allowed to come into a library and learn new things. I think providing opportunities to everyone in our community, it's just such a fair and wonderful thing to do and that's what libraries are all about. That's why I believe in libraries,” Silverstone said.
Voters will be asked to approve or reject the bond on November 6.
If the bond passes, the downtown library would undergo renovation along with several other branches, including the Shadle library. That library would double in size since it tends to be one of the busiest branches.
“If the bond were to pass, we would start community engagement conversations again to build out the rest of the plans and ensure that we are building the facilities that the community wants and needs,” said Amanda Donovan with Spokane Public Library.
Spokane Public Library staff said design plans will continue through the end of this year and into 2019 if the bond passes. Renovation and construction at the new locations would start in 2020.
For more information on this bond, click here.