The Library Times
Meet Our New Board Member
Joanne Tracy, who hails from Portland, has recently joined our five-member board of directors. She is intimately familiar with the ins and outs of library operations, having worked for 25 years as a library clerk in Portland.
“I believe really strongly in libraries and want to make sure this one stays open,” she says of her new role in the library.
Tracy was one of a handful of library supporters who recently spoke at a City Council meeting to support the city’s continued funding of our library.
She and her husband Dave Cantrell moved to Dunsmuir two years ago. It was a bit of a culture shock to go from a city with 20 libraries to a town with one struggling library.
She does have one important item on her wish list for our library: “I want to see people use it more than they do.”
Mark Your Calendar: Open House On September 13
The library will be full of music and activities for adults and kids at our Open House Saturday, September 13, from 2 to 5 p.m.
For the kids, Straw Sally will read a story, and Halie will lead a singalong on her autoharp.
There will be live music by Kevin and Tom and a colorfully illustrated talk on Dunsmuir history by Ron McCloud and Bruce Deutsch.
There will be a raffle with prizes given out starting at 4:30. Tickets are on sale at the library and the hardware store. There will also be a book sale at Avenue Books and a “Dress Your Scarecrow” contest.
Refreshments will be provided.
Library Funding: Good News Mixed With Uncertainty
Last month the Dunsmuir City Council approved $31,000 in funding for our library in the city budget that goes through June 30, 2026. Council member Matthew Bryan led the effort on behalf of the library by urging the Council to approve the $31,000, an amount the library estimates will assure its continued operations at the current level of service.
Future funding is uncertain, though. Ten years ago The Friends of the Dunsmuir Library helped get a half-cent city sales tax measure approved to help provide funding for the library. This measure expires in March of 2026.
A new local sales tax measure, Measure D, will be on the November ballot and, if approved by a majority of voters, will add one percent to the basic sales tax, to bring it to 8.25 percent. City officials say the $270,000 annual revenues from this tax are essential to help meet mounting deficits in the city's budget and help guarantee that there will be adequate funds to help meet the library's needs and the funding of other essential ser-vices as well.
As of this writing there is no money allocated for the library in the city budget
after June 2026.
You can help keep our doors open by filling out the coupon in this newsletter and sending in your donation or donating online by going to our donate page.
Did You Know?
There will be a Voices In the Canyon presen-tation at the library by Myra Buteau on Saturday, October 11, at 2 p.m. She will show her documentary film, “Mountain Men Of The Siskiyou Trail.” And on October 25 at 2 p.m. Shawn Simon of New West Hats will discuss the history of hats from the fur trade to contemporary times. Both talks are free and open to the public.
We offer a weekly Play Group and Storytime for young children each Wednesday from 10 to 11:30 sponsored by First 5 Siskiyou.
The Dunsmuir Library Book Club usually meets the last Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m. to discuss the current book we have all read. Contact us for more information.
We offer FREE one-on-one tutoring for adults in the following areas: GED, Reading\Literacy, Math, Writing, English As A Second Language, Driver's License Testing, Computer Literacy.
Contact Debra Davis at (530) 842-8807 for more information on these tutoring programs.
We offer a range of services accessible with your free library card: Physical and digital books, DVDs, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers; streaming videos; online comics; public computers and Wi-Fi access.