Hi Reader,

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Since completing my year-long challenge to write (and publish) a story each week for a year, I've been writing a new novel. If you're a fan of my ghost/horror/paranormal fiction, this one is for you. I'm over 60,000 words now on the book. I don't have a release date planned yet. I'll figure that out after it's written.

Halloween Hearts

Speaking of the spooky season, I have a story appearing in the upcoming Halloween Hearts anthology on Kickstarter. This terrific anthology includes "Twelve tales of cursed love, monstrous meet-cutes, dark and stormy witchcraft, and happily ever hauntings to warm your Spooky Season." The Kickstarter launches September 1st, with delivery planned before Halloween. Follow now to receive updates and to be notified when the campaign launches.

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Timberland Regional Library Levy Lid Lift

If you happen to be a resident in one of the five counties served by Timberland Regional Library, I encourage you to vote to support the library in the upcoming general election this November. I've worked for the library over thirty years in a variety of positions. (*I'm not writing this as part of my job, or using any library resources.*) As someone with decades of experience working in both frontline positions directly with the public (*doing everything from helping people check out, place holds, use computers, find information, teaching classes, doing story times for kids, and so much more*) as well as positions supporting the frontline work, I've seen first-hand how much impact libraries have on individuals and their communities. It's a place that welcomes everyone and stands against efforts to restrict rights and censor people. I and my fellow librarians commit our skills, knowledge, and time to helping people. Often the library is one of the few places that welcomes everyone, helps everyone, and is paid for by everyone.

At TRL, like other regional library districts in Washington State, the library may level up to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in property tax to fund the library. However, the last time TRL was funded at that level was twenty-five years ago. TRL made a mistake. The levy rate declines as assessed housing values increase in order to keep the budget to a 1% increase. Of course every expense increases faster than 1%. Today the levy rate is down to 22 cents. TRL's big mistake? In 2009, TRL went out for a levy lid lift (right when the housing crisis was going on) and it failed. That wasn't the mistake. The mistake was not giving voters another chance to have their say. The library could have made careful adjustments, shared those changes with the community, then gone out for another levy lid lift a year or two later. Instead TRL cut. And cut. And kept operating under austerity measures for the next sixteen years. That wasn't fair to voters. Instead of asking the community what they wanted for their library, TRL did its best to stay within that 1% increase each year. Positions were cut based on attrition, jobs combined, coverage and hours limited. Operating with less (*providing less to the community*) became the norm. The Board of Trustees declined to go out to voters again, despite it being clear that this situation couldn't go on. Earlier this year, it reached the point of layoffs and furloughs. After a turnover in library administration, the library made changes designed to address the deficit while preserving most of the threatened positions. And the Board of Trustees has decided to go out to voters this November to increase the rate to 35 cents per $1,000 for the next two years, and then the rate would be used for subsequent calculations within the 1% limit.

As a librarian (speaking for myself), I want to see all libraries thrive. When libraries thrive, communities thrive. We have weirdos that want to cut funding, censor, and defund libraries. We can't allow that to happen. Not at TRL, not anywhere.

I'd encourage you to look at the library's information about the levy. If you're in the service area, please vote for the levy in November. If you're not, you can still share information about it on social media and elsewhere to amplify support and reach those who do. And if your library, wherever it is, needs support, I hope you'll do that too.

Until next time, happy reading,

Ryan