More weekend hours, controversial staff changes coming to Pierce Co. libraries
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pierce County Library System plans staffing shifts and adjusted open hours.
- Some are concerned about how changes will impact staff and library patrons.
- Library system reports structural budget deficit and need for strategic planning.
Some residents may see different faces behind the desk at their local library as the Pierce County Library System shuffles staff and introduces other changes in a system-wide reorganization.
A Key Peninsula resident, Becca Gjertson, wrote in a public comment to the Pierce County Library System Board of Trustees that she was concerned about the library system requiring employees to drive to other branches to work for part of the week. That will create hardships for staff and their families due to the longer commute and other factors, she wrote.
She also wrote of the loss that the community will feel due to the staffing changes.
“I have lived on the Key Peninsula for 24 years, and in that time, I have built fabulous relationships (as I know so many people have) with our librarians,” Gjertson wrote. “They are part of our smalltown community feel, and this reorganization plan will damage that immensely.”
Gjertson was one of over 70 people who submitted written comments to the board, urging them to halt the staffing changes and preserve the current staff at the Key Center Library, according to copies of the comments that The News Tribune received via a public records request. The board heard the comments from the public at the Dec. 10 board meeting.
The Pierce County Library System has 19 locations and serves about 680,000 people across the county, according to library news releases. The system is the fourth largest in the state and receives about 1 million visits every year. Property taxes are the library system’s main source of funding.
The library system’s 2026 budget is $51.43 million, PCLS spokesperson Somer Hanson wrote in an email. More budget information is available on the library system’s website, and will be available on a new platform called ClearGov in 2026, she wrote.
Chuck Speece, a staff representative for the Washington State Council of County and City Employees AFSCME Council 2, wrote in an email Dec. 18 that the Pierce County Library System employees’ union has been bargaining with library administration over the “impacts of this decision,” which the union learned about this summer.
“Negotiations are ongoing, and I can’t say much about them, other than to say we are close to reaching an agreement on how to mitigate those impacts,” Speece wrote. “At this point in time, layoffs are not being discussed or implemented, but there remains a concern about future staff reductions.”
It’s not clear exactly when the changes will take place, though the library system has announced new hours beginning Jan. 18. Asked about the timeline Dec. 30, Pierce County Library System spokesperson Nicole Milbradt said that discussions with the union are ongoing and that she hadn’t seen an official timeline yet.
Libraries to rotate staff across locations
Administrators plan to shuffle around staff as part of the library system’s transition to a regional service model, which has been in the works for about three years, said Nicole Milbradt, another PCLS spokesperson, in a phone call Dec. 16. The new model involves dividing the library system into regions, and having libraries share staff and resources within their region. Milbradt explained that regional models are typical for libraries that cover a large area such as Pierce County.
The multi-year plan, first launched in June 2022, installed regional services managers over six regions of the library system, according to a “3-Year Development Plan” that a spokesperson shared with The News Tribune. Regional services managers are tasked with creating regional plans “for staffing, programs and services, and collections within a region,” working with other management staff, the plan said.
Before 2022, branch managers at large library locations “would plan for and provide regional support to one or two small locations,” but lacked support for day-to-day operations, according to the plan.
A resident posted on a Key Peninsula Facebook page Dec. 8 urging residents to contact the library system Board of Trustees and oppose the changes, specifically raising concerns about librarians needing to commute longer distances to reach branches outside their communities. Public comments submitted to the board ahead of their Dec. 10 meeting reflected these concerns, and many mentioned a beloved youth specialist whom residents described as someone who knew their families and helped them pick out books.
“We are a close community and the fact that she knows my children and is able to recommend different books has helped my family continue to read,” Key Peninsula resident Christine Luna wrote. “We love her and ask that she stay at the Key Center branch to continue the small town community that the KP has.”
The Board of Trustees did not vote on the regional services model at their Dec. 10 meeting. Milbradt explained to The News Tribune that the board votes to approve the PCLS budgets and union contract, “both of which reflect some of the changes to the regional services model,” but the plan itself is not subject to a board vote.
The board has “been informed about the plan as far back as 2018,” she said. “It was paused for the pandemic and then things resumed with the board (in) 2022, and has gone from that time until now in a pretty regular cadence.”
Asked if the restructuring will involve cutting staff, Milbradt said: “The information I have is that there will be no layoffs. There’s still some personnel matters that are in discussion between the system and the union that I don’t have information on, but to my knowledge, no (layoffs).”
She didn’t know the specifics of the youth specialist’s case, but said that the region in the peninsula area would include the Gig Harbor, Key Center and Steilacoom libraries and that staff members will split their time between locations.
After speaking with multiple library staff members who declined to speak on the record, The News Tribune asked Milbradt to confirm if particular job titles will be eliminated.
“I’m aware that there are different opportunities being made available to current staff,” she said. “I’m not in a position to speak to those eliminations or changes of those positions.”
A reporter also asked Milbradt if any staff will be asked to re-interview for positions.
“I don’t have insight into the decision-making behind that, and I believe that’s something that’s still part of the negotiations,” she said.
What is driving the changes?
Hanson told The News Tribune that the shift to a regional model is intended to strengthen the library’s connection with the community and make it easier to share resources and staff across branches. She also noted that the library system is facing a deficit.
“The Library is implementing a regional service model to strengthen community connections and improve flexibility,” Hanson wrote in an email. “This approach helps us align staffing with community needs, share resources more effectively, and ensure long-term sustainability. The Library continues to work closely with the union in good faith and values the strong partnership we share.”
“At the same time, like many government agencies, we face difficult structural financial challenges under Washington State’s property tax cap, where costs consistently outpace revenues. These realities make it essential to consider all options with staff and community interests in mind.”
Asked in a phone call Dec. 30 how the new model will save money, Milbradt told The News Tribune that the reorganization allows the library system to “leverage resources,” such as “materials, supplies needed to administer programming and ... also staff with certain levels of expertise.” She gave an illustration: by sharing one teen services librarian across three libraries in a specific region, the library system won’t need to hire additional teen services librarians to work at each individual location.
“Another example might be someone who has a second language that they speak,” she said. “That would allow them maybe to do storytime at each of the three locations where those wouldn’t have been possible with the staff at two of those locations.”
Hanson wrote in a follow-up email that the library system faced a financial gap of $5.71 million in October. They were able to cut that to $2.5 million through “internal cost-control measures,” and plan to draw upon the library system’s Levy Sustainability Fund to balance their 2026 budget, she wrote.
Past news releases indicate that library administrators created a Levy Sustainability Fund after voters approved a levy lid-lift measure in 2018 and built up the fund by setting aside levy revenue to cover anticipated budget deficits in the future.
Will the new library model impact programs and services?
Asked if the library system will see major changes to programming, spokesperson Milbradt wrote that the “regional service model is designed to strengthen services, not reduce them.”
“While there may be some adjustments in how programs are staffed, we are committed to continuing library programming for our communities,” she wrote.
The News Tribune also asked Milbradt if the library system will be discontinuing specific programs currently hosted by specialists, such as a virtual Dungeons & Dragons program for teens.
“No decision has been made by the Library System to end virtual Dungeons and Dragons for teens,” Milbradt wrote. “This program is part of the Library’s core programming for this age group.”
New library hours coming in January
Pierce County libraries will roll out new hours starting Jan. 18, per a news release Dec. 18. Hanson clarified in an email that these hourly changes are not related to the shift to a regional model, but will help the library system cut costs.
“By standardizing mid- and small-branch hours to eight hours per day, we eliminated the need for overlapping shifts,” she wrote. “Previously, longer hours required additional staff to meet minimum coverage (two to open, two to close, and extra staff midday) often exceeding what was necessary for the business need. With single-shift scheduling, we can operate efficiently with two staff all day and a short shift to cover breaks.”
The new hours will not result in a reduction of services, she wrote.
The new schedule adds weekend hours while adjusting opening and/or closing times on weekdays at many locations. The updated hours are as follows:
Bonney Lake, Graham, Summit libraries:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Thursday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Gig Harbor, Lakewood, Parkland/Spanaway, South Hill, Sumner, University Place libraries:
- Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Buckley, DuPont, Eatonville, Fife, Key Center, Milton/Edgewood, Orting, Steilacoom, Tillicum libraries:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Thursday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
“In addition to making library visits more convenient, these changes allow the Library to take services and programs beyond the library walls and into the heart of the community,” the release said. “The Pierce County Library analyzed usage data and community needs to guide this schedule adjustment and will continue adapting to meet evolving community needs.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
