Five counties · 29 branches · one public trust
Save Timberland Regional Library
The Timberland Regional Library (TRL) system is the backbone of our communities across Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston counties. After deep staffing cuts and a contested leadership appointment, patrons came together to protect it. That organizing is working, and a hopeful, winnable path forward is taking shape.
What's Happening
The actions of a handful of unelected officials and library administrators have pushed a five-county public institution into crisis:
- TRL issued layoff notices to 61 frontline workers in March 2026. After organizing and union negotiation, the district rescinded more than 80% of the involuntary layoffs — but cuts, reduced hours, and a hiring freeze still hit services across the district.
- Three branches — Hoodsport, McCleary, and Amanda Park — were slated to lose their staff and shift to a self-service model, trading trained people for automation, software, and surveillance. Community pushback paused that plan; their future remains under review.
- The result: real cuts to the services that hold community life together, unevenly across the region.
Update — May 21, 2026
The Board of Trustees rescinded 36 of the 44 involuntary layoffs and kept all branches open with reduced hours. But they also appointed an administrator who helped develop the layoff plan as interim executive director. The heart of the problem remains: patrons at all 29 branches have a board and administration that have not yet earned back the public's trust in a system that has been pushed toward financial crisis.
Where things stand now
Signs of Progress
Steady, organized advocacy is making a difference. The picture is improving, and a clear path forward is taking shape. None of it is finished, but it shows what patrons can do when they show up.
- Patrons report books, shelves, and large-print titles returning at the Montesano branch, and the Friends of the Library resumed activity there in spring 2026. When patrons speak up, branches can be made whole again.
- Library leadership has committed to a full search for a permanent executive director, with the goal of filling the role within six months to a year.
- Trustees have signaled a willingness to work directly with patrons and the public, including meeting with the coalition.
- A levy-lift campaign is in the works to put the system's funding on stable ground for the long term.
The takeaway
What is happening at Montesano can happen at other branches too. Books, shelves, local art, and furniture can be restored where patrons ask for them, branch by branch. The Take Action section has the specific ways to help make that happen.
⟨ The situation is always progressing. The Patron Coalition will provide updates as we have them. ⟩
What We're Asking For
Communities deserve libraries. As patrons, taxpayers, and stakeholders, we urge our county commissioners, board members, and public officials to:
- Require complete budget transparency, with clear, accurate information on administrative salaries.
- Support budgets that prioritize frontline staff, programs, and materials.
- Call an immediate halt to all non-essential building updates.
- De-prioritize staffless and single-staffed branches that rely on greater automation, software, and surveillance at the expense of staff.
- Make Friends of the Library members and former staff eligible to serve on the TRL Board of Trustees, by revising the policy that currently prevents it.
- Restore public trust with new directors and administrative staff committed to rebuilding the system.
- Require the Board of Trustees to publicly recommit to representing the best interests of the communities and library staff they serve.
The Money: Why Transparency Is Demand #1
The problem isn't only missing money. The most recent audit (published June 2026, covering 2024) found no fraud and no material weaknesses, and gave TRL a clean opinion on the cash basis it reports on. But a clean audit only confirms the cash-basis books add up — it doesn't speak to the quality of management, which has been shoddy. The deeper problem is structural: reserves have already fallen sharply, and by the district's own projection the General Fund runs into the red. The charts below come straight from TRL's audited reports and its own April 2026 projections.
Reserves have already fallen — fast
And TRL projects the reserve going negative
By the numbers
−$2.7M projected General Fund balance by 2030 — down from $5.8M at the start of 2026.
- $4.3M operating deficit in 2024 (audited); reserves down roughly $5.3M over two years.
- The balance fails the mandatory 30% reserve in every projected year, and would need to rise $12.1M by 2030 to meet it.
- About 94% of TRL's funding is local property tax, capped at 1% annual growth — so costs rise faster than revenue can.
What the State Auditor did — and didn't — find
The audit gave TRL a clean, unmodified opinion on its cash-basis financial statements, with no material weaknesses and no fraud. The deeper financial trouble shows up in TRL's own budget and projections, not in an audit finding. A separate concern about competitive bidding on vehicle purchases has been raised but is not part of these financial reports.
Go deeper
For the full fiscal analysis — 13 exhibits built from audited budgets and 280 board meetings — read Anatomy of a Financial Crisis, the coalition's in-depth report.
Why It Matters
We believe in our five-county library system, and we believe all five counties deserve an equitable, fair library where every community has equal access to services. For much of this region — especially its rural communities — the library is the hub: free books and internet, a warm place to be, programs for kids and seniors, services people can't get anywhere else nearby. A staffless branch is not a substitute for a staffed one.
The path forward
Our support for the levy — and what it takes
We will support a levy lift, because sustainable funding is how every county keeps its branches open, staffed, and stocked. But new money has to come with the transparency and accountability the public is owed. Here is the library we're funding toward — and the three things that have to be true to get there.
Our goal
A library that is a safe, welcoming, open resource for every resident of all five counties — open doors, real staff, full shelves, in every community, not just the easy-to-reach ones.
Three things have to be true
A transparent budget
We should see where every dollar goes — verified by an independent, third-party audit, with a public spending plan that puts money into books, open hours, and frontline staff.
Qualified and effective staff
A permanent, experienced executive director chosen through a real search — not the current interim — plus the financial and technical expertise the system has lacked.
An accountable, open board
Every board seat filled with genuine stewards, a union voice at the table, and real community oversight built into how the library is run.
These aren't promises to collect after the vote — they're the conditions of our support. Each pillar gets its own page, with the specifics and the evidence behind it.
Take Action
A few minutes from you adds up. Start here, in order of impact:
Email the Board of Trustees
The trustees set TRL’s direction. Tell them you back the coalition’s four conditions and what would make your branch whole — cc the interim director.
- Grays Harbor trustee: Dustin Loop — dloop@trl.org
- cc Andrea Heisel (interim director) — aheisel@trl.org
Ask commissioners to fill the trustee seats
County commissioners appoint the trustees who guide the system. Filling every seat with qualified, committed people is essential — and a short, respectful note from a constituent carries real weight.
- Mason County: msmith@masoncountywa.gov
- Grays Harbor, Lewis, Pacific & Thurston: look up your commissioners’ contact on your county’s website — a note from a constituent in their own county carries the most weight.
Fund the laid-off workers
A community fund is live to support the TRL workers who lost their jobs in the cuts. Every dollar helps a real person through a hard stretch.
And spread the word — share this page with neighbors who love their branch, and ask your county commissioners what they’re doing to support the library.
Stay connected
Stay in the Loop
Keep up with the coalition’s work — the push for transparency, the trustee seats, the levy, and branch news.
Questions, ideas, or want to get involved directly? Email the coalition at WeLoveLibraries@proton.me, or follow @trlpatrons on Instagram for updates and branch news.
Sources & Documents
Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary public document or credible local reporting. The financial projections are TRL's own.
The deep analysis behind these figures — Anatomy of a Financial Crisis, 13 exhibits built from audited budgets and 280 transcribed board meetings — was researched and written by Eric Wilson, a Thurston County resident and Patron Coalition volunteer, and is hosted here as part of the coalition's record.
Primary documents
- Timberland Regional Library — General Fund Fiscal Projections, April 2026 (the source of the projection chart): view the PDF.
- WA State Auditor — Financial Statements Audit Report, TRL, FY2024 (No. 1039929, pub. June 11, 2026) — audited cash & the 2024 deficit: view the PDF.
- WA State Auditor — Financial Statements Audit Report, TRL, FY2022 (No. 1034185, pub. Feb 5, 2024) — the audited baseline: view the PDF.
- WA State Auditor — Accountability Audit Report, TRL, FY2023 (No. 1036255, pub. Dec 19, 2024): portal.sao.wa.gov.
- WA State Auditor — Financial Statements Audit Report, TRL, FY2023 (No. 1036267, pub. Dec 19, 2024) — levy rate, assessed value, revenues/expenditures: portal.sao.wa.gov.
- Timberland Regional Library — Funding & Budget (reserve policy, fund-balance trend, funding mix): trl.org/budget.
- TRL — 2026 Budget Message (Jan 29, 2026): trl.org.
- TRL — Agreement to Limit Immediate Layoffs (Apr 2026): trl.org.
Local reporting
- The Daily World — TRL to lay off 61 frontline employees (Mar 17, 2026): thedailyworld.com.
- The Daily World — TRL rescinds 80% of planned involuntary layoffs (Apr 16, 2026): thedailyworld.com.
- ThurstonTalk — Andrea Heisel named Interim Executive Director (May 21, 2026): thurstontalk.com.
- The Daily World — Trustees take public questions on the budget crisis (Apr 14, 2026): thedailyworld.com.