Mall library lease extended 2 years

Operation of the popular branch library at Westfield Vancouver is secure for another two years, under a lease extension reached by shopping mall operators and the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.

The FVRL board of directors was expected to approve the contract at its monthly meeting tonight, held in Goldendale.

It's quite a turnaround from the mall branch's shaky footing last autumn. Library officials drafted a list of potential budget cuts that included closure of the mall branch, opened in 1983 and until recently the 13-branch system's third-most utilized outlet.

A costly, mandatory remodel of the branch and other mall tenants had loomed large. The library estimated a makeover would cost $500,000.

But a cratering economy has shelved Westfield's makeover plans, for now.

Mall officials also allowed the library to reduce operating hours, even as they trimmed store shopping times. Those and other library district budget cutbacks to save about $1.1 million enabled FVRL to sustain the mall library.

"We're very happy at the mall," Patty Duitman, district operations manager, said on Monday.

Branch librarians and boosters noted the mall outlet has served a more diverse clientele than that seen elsewhere. "There's a lot of support for that branch," Duitman said.

The mall library lease, which builds on a current 10-year agreement, will remain unchanged for the 12 months beginning on Feb. 1, 2010. The annual lease is now slightly more than $42,000, Duitman said.

That amount will rise 5 percent in 2011, she said.

Sometime after that, assuming an economic recovery, the mall and FVRL will discuss expectations of any future remodel, Duitman said.

Mall library branch hours continue to be: 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Wednesday; 10:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, see: www.fvrl.org.

Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.