Matt Driscoll: What could closing the Kobetich Library mean? It’s even worse than I thought.

Sometimes it takes the risk of losing a community asset — like, say, a small, two-room library in Northeast Tacoma — to make us really appreciate it.

Hopefully, that’s exactly the moment of realization we’re experiencing when it comes to the future of the Kobetich branch.

And, as it turns out, losing the Kobetich branch could have repercussions in Northeast Tacoma that go beyond the building itself and the services it provides.

It could also impact the reciprocal agreement between Tacoma’s library system and the King County Library System — a pact that allows Tacoma residents to utilize libraries in King County and vice versa.

As I wrote Sunday, Tacoma’s biennial budgeting process for 2017-18 has included City Manager T.C. Broadnax asking all city departments to come up with potential 2 to 4 percent in potential cuts. While such a request is a regular part of the budget sausage-making, the city is facing an estimated $6.7 million shortfall.

For those on the front lines, it makes this year’s exercise feel more ominous than most.

Two options have emerged from Tacoma Public Library Director Susan Odencrantz’s office. Faced with a directive to identify 4 percent in cuts, or $903,318 over two years, closing the Northwest Room, we’re told, would save the city $621,000, while closing the Kobetich branch would save $852,000.

This for a library system that’s already endured what Odencrantz describes as years of cuts.

“We feel like, and I’m sure other (departments) do too, that our options are really just not there in terms of cutting services that the public won’t feel or see, which is what we’ve tried to do for years,” Odencrantz told me Tuesday. “I don’t know why we would get that level of ask if there wasn’t some necessity for it. That’s my guess.

“I recognize (the city manager’s office is) going to push us a little,” she continues, “but this is kind of beyond a little. … $900,000 is a lot of money. And it’s on top of years and years of cuts. People kind of forget that.”

Odencrantz tells me she’s scheduled to meet with Broadnax and his staff Friday to discuss where things go from here.

Fingers crossed.

Understandably, at least from a public perspective, much of the outcry has focused on the potential loss of the Northwest Room — a one-of-a-kind collection of Tacoma and regional history.

But it’s also led to a better understanding of what’s at stake for Northeast Tacoma.

And it’s even more than I initially realized.

Since Sunday’s column, I’ve heard from several readers — Northeast Tacoma residents who’ve been to the service-cut rodeo before — concerned that losing the Kobetich Library could jeopardize the reciprocal agreement between Tacoma’s library system and the King County Library System.

While all Tacoma residents can take advantage of the benefits of this reciprocal agreement, for residents in Northeast Tacoma it’s essential. Outside of the Kobetich branch, the closest Tacoma library is the Main branch … all the way downtown.

As they know all too well, that’s a long way.

Odencrantz tells me that while the reciprocal agreement isn’t dependent on the Kobetich branch staying open, such a change would open the door for the King County Library System, and its board of trustees, to re-evaluate it. She says these agreements between library systems in Washington “are contingent on the sense of reciprocity,” and that losing the closest library to King County might be enough to convince King County that there’s not much left in the deal for them.

And, yes, if the Kobetich branch was to close, the King County Library System would be within its rights to sever the agreement — leaving Northeast Tacoma residents in what could be described as a library desert.

“Most reciprocal agreements between library systems in Washington state have a back-out clause,” she explains. “Yes, libraries can decide whether reciprocity status remains when conditions change. It is up to the board of trustees of each library system to make that call.

“So... If Kobetich were to close, KCLS could back out. Or continue. It is up to them.”

With the often-ignored residents of Northeast Tacoma in mind, that sure seems like too big of a big gamble to take.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Matt Driscoll: What could closing the Kobetich Library mean? It’s even worse than I thought.."