City Council sunsets Shoreline Library Board

The Shoreline Library Board 2017
not all members are present - see list of members below
Photo courtesy City of Shoreline

On May 15, the Shoreline City Council unanimously voted to sunset Shoreline’s Library Board. After a thorough analysis of the Board’s activities over the past five plus years, and after consulting with the King County Library System’s Executive Director and the current Shoreline Library Board members, City staff and the Council determined the need for a separate Library Board was no longer necessary. Any library related needs will be assumed the City’s Parks Recreation and Cultural Services Board as part of its cultural services duties.

When the City Council created the Board in 1996, one of its primary purposes was to serve as an advisory body to the King County Library System’s (KCLS) Board and to the Shoreline City Council. Since 2012, the Shoreline Library Board has advised each of KCLS and the City Council once.

KCLS has stated that they do not utilize the library boards for capital campaign strategies as they have other public mechanisms to inform that process. They also have multiple avenues for gathering public input at the local levels and the Shoreline Library Board’s efforts are duplicative.

Shoreline has been very fortunate to have many dedicated volunteers over the past 21 years who have served on the Shoreline Library Board. The City Council recognized the current Board members for their hard work and dedication.

2017 Members: Library Board Members: Eileen Wood-Lim (Chair), Chloe Horning, Lisa Oberg, Brooke Shirts, Robert Smith, Karen Thielke, Steven Watson

Youth Members: Elrohi Shuge, Ella McGuigan