Today/tonight: Police award; library future; SW District Council …

(Photo by Eric Bell from fridgefoto.biz)
From the WSB Events calendar: 11 am, join the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle at the Southwest Precinct as they present the Everyday Hero Award (explained here) to Captain Joe Kessler on behalf of all the SPD personnel who serve West Seattle. Carrot cake is promised too. … 4-6 pm at High Point Library, come join the conversation about the Seattle Public Library‘s future. Read more here … 7 pm, two events – West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen guests at the Southwest District Council’s monthly meeting (board room at South Seattle Community College), and our energy future is the focus of CoolMom‘s monthly meeting at C & P Coffee. … REMINDERS: Don Armeni Boat Ramp (including the parking lot) is scheduled to close this afternoon and stay closed for two days for paving work … Today’s an early-dismissal day for Seattle Public Schools.

Iggy March 3, 2010 (8:24 am)

Ironic that High Point was chosen by the Seattle Public Library for one of its citywide “library future” meetings. High Point was one of the new branches in “less advantaged” neighborhoods that was supposed to provide services to those who can’t travel to the more established branches in the “better” neighborhoods because they don’t have transportation and to foster a community feel. Delridge is the other similar branch in West Seattle. Holly Park is a similar branch in the South End. Ironic because it is these branches that got the shortened hours and are now closed on Friday and curtailed hours other days, leaving kids and people without cars out-of-luck. Yet, these libraries were newly built (remember the levy we passed) on the premise they would allow Deldridge and Holly Park to be walking communities with services equal to other parts of the city. Okay. Off my soap box for today. Thanks for listening. And, yes, I wrote library and city officials during the comment period when they discussed curtailing the hours. I was told we are “lucky” they didn’t cut hours more! Never mind that Admiral and SW are open 7 days a week.

Kara March 3, 2010 (1:42 pm)

I’m not that enthusiastic about the operating hours being changed either, but I am grateful that it was done so that no employees got laid-off.
To put it simply the operating hours were all based on usage and statistics. High Point didn’t have enough usage to make it a seven day branch. They chose the seven day branches that they did because they had the highest usage statistics. Luckily, the West Seattle area got two seven day branches rather than the original one that was proposed.
As a bus chick I can easily travel from High Point to Southwest on the 21, which runs every fifteen minutes during peak. I don’t drive at all and can easily travel all over this city… sometimes it requires patience and a little maneuvering, but its possible.
Also, your voice does matter. It was because of the citizens that we got our new libraries in the first place and it was because of the citizens that the city council added additional money to our budget to add five additional seven day branches.

Sorry, comment time is over.