Law Library Board Oversees Renovation Plans

Libraries like our Seattle and RJC branches are both destinations in the themselves and doorways to a virtual world of information. While I’m sure the Library’s Board of Trustees wouldn’t describe their oversight role in terms of being property managers, many of the decisions the Board has made in recent years have involved managing the planning for facility construction and renovation. For the past ten years, a significant part of the Board’s fiduciary responsibly has been focused on space planning, construction, and renovation projects.

As plans unfolded for the creation of the RJC, the Library Board took an active role to ensure that the law library would have a presence in the building. The Board worked to make sure that the funds for the construction and furnishing of the library and the purchase of the initial collection would be included in the bond to build the RJC. The Board secured the adoption of an ordinance that created a mechanism for securing ongoing financial support for the RJC’s operation.

As plans evolved for the seismic renovation of the Seattle Courthouse, the Board took an active role in decisions about how space would be allocated for the library’s use in the County Administration building. Seizing this one-time opportunity to renovate the Seattle Courthouse space when the library returns to the Courthouse at the end of the summer, the Board worked with Andrea Vanecko from Callison Architecture, Inc. to create a new space plan for the Courthouse facility to better serve the legal research needs of our varied constituency. The Board spoke for the interests of the library’s users in discussions with County Facility Manage-ment when questions were raised about returning the library to the Courthouse. To fund the proposed renovation plan, the Board developed the 85th Anniver-sary Campaign and secured the support of the legal community for this effort.

When the Courthouse library reopens in early September, the Trustees invite the legal community to visit the renovated space and to enjoy the end result of their careful stewardship of this community resource.

Seattle Library Returns to the Courthouse: After more than 17 months in the County Administration Building, the Library looks forward to our return to the sixth floor of the Courthouse. The Seismic Project management team hasn’t given us the exact dates for the move yet, but we expect that our return will be scheduled in early September.

The Seattle Library will be closed for a week to accomplish the move. As soon as we have the dates, this information will be posted on the Library’s web site and announced on a bulletin board in the Library.

The Regional Justice Center lib-rary will remain open when the Seattle library is being relocated. While the Seattle library is closed for the move back to the Courthouse, call the RJC library at (206) 205-2900 for reference assistance

85th Anniversary Campaign Progress Report: In April, the Library announced the start of a Capital Campaign drive under the leadership of Honorary Co-chairs King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng and Helsell Fetterman partner Llewelyn G. Pritchard. The goal of the Campaign is to raise the funds needed to remodel the Library’s sixth floor Courthouse space when we return at the end of the summer.

We’re happy to report that at the end of June, we’ve collected $46,000.00 toward our goal of $85,000.00. It’s not too late to become a contributor! The funds received will be used for improvements such as study carrels, comfortable seating, expanded electrical connections for laptop computers, and a new service counter. Donors who make a gift at the $250.00 level and above will be recognized by having their names listed on a commemorative plaque that will be displayed in the Library. For more about the Campaign and how you can make a gift, visit www.kcll.org/fundraising. If you haven’t yet made a gift or pledge to the Campaign, you’ll find a downloadable copy of the Campaign pledge card on our web site.

Library Board Welcomes New Mem-ber: Judge Dean Lum has been appointed to the Law Library Board to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Terry Lukens who had served on the Board since November of 1999.

Internet class topic: While the Library will offer training programs in August, the Thursday lunch-break class will not be held again until September 16. For information about the training, contact Rita Kaiser at (206) 296-0940. For information about additional training opportunities, view the monthly training calendar on the library’s web page at www.kcll.org.

Gifts: the Library appreciates the receipt of a gift to the collection from Garvey Schubert & Barer.

New Book List: for a monthly update of new books added to the collection, please check the library’s web site at www.kcll.org or pick up a copy at the reference desk of the listing arranged by subject.