Clatsop County is fortunate to have funded libraries in its towns. Other regions of the state are not so fortunate. For example, the libraries of Hood River County closed last month, the result of a funding levy failure.

I would hate to see Astoria’s library compromised by unwise expenditures on a perfectly functional building, requiring a costly bailout similar to the Aquatic Center’s. Even though proposed building upgrades might be paid for by an endowment fund, major structural work on a 40-year-old building may well exceed projected costs because of the “unknowns” discovered in the process.

As a preservationist, I’m concerned about the potential of “re-muddling” a building that is part of our architectural history. The library was designed by the first licensed woman architect in Oregon, Ebba Brown, who was the daughter of renowned Astoria architect John Wicks. The building is contemporaneous with two bank buildings, a lawyer’s office, a county office building, and The Daily Astorian’s building. The library may not be the most attractive edifice in town, but that fact does not justify spending scarce public dollars on a new face, just for the sake of a new face.

Spend the endowment money on keeping the library’s roof intact (instead of letting it go like the city did to City Hall); spend money making the building more energy efficient; spend money on making the “flexible” space more useful (which will allow more natural light inside from the tall narrow windows); spend money on books.

Don’t spend money making a once “fashionable” building more fashionable by today’s standards.

I am a regular and frequent patron of the Astoria Library, and I value its contribution to the livability of Astoria. Keep the library functioning and keep it stocked. But we Astorians can’t afford to spend money on needless facelifts.

FRED WHITE

Astoria