Timberland Library workers made it clear last week: they are not onboard with the library system’s recent format changes to its Naselle branch.

In a letter that was read during the Timberland Regional Library’s Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 25, a library workers union representative said the board’s decision to end most staffing at the branch in favor of a “self-service” approach means “Naselle can no longer be called a library.”

“The community deserves better than this, and we speak up now to reverse and prevent this unstaffed model from spreading to other branches,” read Mike Boyer, a union representative for AFSCME Local 3758-B, which represents most frontline staff at TRL.

Beginning this month, access to library materials at the Naselle branch is available to patrons who have signed up for an Expanded Access Hours (EAH) pass, which permits those who are signed up and have received a keycard to access the branch all days of the week between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. The EAH pass has been implemented at Pacific County libraries for some time as a supplemental resource.

Michelle Zilli, who manages the Naselle, Ilwaco and Ocean Park branches, has previously said the Naselle library has one of the lowest circulations among Timberland’s 29 branches and that the change to the self-service “frees up staff to serve in other ways.” The library will only be staffed during scheduled programming, which can be found at www.trl.org/events.

The letter read by Boyer during the public comment period of last week’s board of trustees meeting said taking away library workers from rural communities is “devastating.”

“Imagine needing to print a resume, not knowing how, and no one is there to help,” the letter stated. “Imagine wanting to share how much your child enjoyed a book you borrowed, and no one is there to listen. Imagine a tourist finding the library is restricted to only those who register beforehand for a key card.

“Worst of all, imagine that unhoused people and those with an unstable home situation can never access the Naselle library, since they cannot give the required address verification.”

No action was taken to delay the implementation of the changes to the Naselle branch at that meeting, although a board member did request to have the topic of staffless libraries added as a discussion item to a future meeting.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 23.