The Omak City Council meeting Monday night was packed with concerned constituents following rumors of a possible closure of the Omak Library.
Some speakers, barely tall enough to reach the microphone on the podium, addressed the council in hopes of changing council members’ minds.
“The library is important. It has events that are important, and it has books – books that are fun, books that help you learn, books that give you tips,” a young constituent said. “Why should we even be having this conversation right now? The library should stay. The library is important.”
Late last week, rumors on social media swirled that the Omak Library was on the brink of closure, prompting more than 100 people to attend Monday’s city council meeting. Omak Mayor Cindy Gagne said those claims are not true, and that the library is going through a contract negotiation .
“I don’t anticipate the library closing. I just think there’s some well-intentioned people that ran with some bad info,” Gagne said in a phone call before the city council meeting Monday afternoon.
“This is a business decision. There’s nothing sinister or nefarious going on,” she added.
The Omak Library has been part of NCW Libraries since 1961. NCW Libraries is an intercounty Rural Library District formed to serve Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant and Okanogan counties.
Barbara Walters, executive director of NCW Libraries, said a notice of termination was provided to a staff member on Sept. 30 and signed by City Manager Todd McDaniel.
She said confusion stemmed from subsequent conversations between McDaniel and other members of her staff, during which he referenced the building maintenance and utilities agreement. In the written notice, Walters said McDaniel cited current issues at Civic League Park and the library facility that had divided the community, adding that the city wanted more control over how contracted library services are delivered.
Per the original notice, the termination date was set for Jan. 1, Walters said. After speaking with McDaniel in December, and he clarified the notice applied to the contract for library services, they agreed to extend the contract through the end of March to try and negotiate a new agreement.
But after consulting with her team and NCW Libraries’ legal counsel, Walters said it became clear it would be unrealistic to negotiate a new agreement within a three-month time frame. As a result, she requested an extension through Dec. 31.
“I feel, at the time, that the city was not aware – and I’m confident saying – that they felt even though they were not going to contract for library services, meaning they weren’t going to pay for library services any longer out of their general fund, that we would just continue to provide library services; that we would continue to run the library and continue to provide residents library services,” Walters said.
“But of course, that’s not how our contract works,” she said.
She shared several requests that were made from the city, including limiting Wi-Fi access to business hours; providing real-time access and stored video footage from outward-facing cameras; expanding the area of operation to include sidewalks and parking areas; and implementing trespass signage and policies.
Walters said NCW Libraries is open to a trial period of limited public Wi-Fi use. They proposed a three-month pilot program shutting Wi-Fi off between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., noting that Wi-Fi is currently accessed outside regular operating hours.
She added that under Washington law, public agencies are required to retain control over records that may identify individuals’ activities and to review records prior to release, meaning the library would need to ensure any release of footage follows established legal processes.
When asked about the city’s requests and if they were related to local homelessness, Gagne said that has been cause for concern for some constituents within the city but emphasized “It’s just contract negotiation.”
Max Frazier, a resident of Tunk Valley and who runs a writing group at the library, said eight to 10 homeless people sleep or hang out outside of the library, although that decreases during the winter.
“We don’t have the facilities in town for them to have a place to stay in the daytime because we can’t staff it,” Frazier said.
She admitted that when she first started going to the library, she felt slightly uncomfortable, especially having to walk past people sitting on the sidewalk, some of whom appeared to be experiencing mental health difficulties or addiction.
“What I’ve learned in years now is that I’ve never once had a problem. I’ve never felt unsafe. I might have felt uncomfortable, but I’m uncomfortable in the ways that I think all of us should feel when we see people who are facing these kinds of difficulties, right?” Frazier said.
Walters said the board met with city council members Thursday to discuss a library agreement, and they decided to have a draft finalized by the end of the month.
Walters said that if an agreement isn’t reached, one of her main concerns, aside from the impact on staff and the community, is the potential loss of funding for the library’s reimagining spaces project, which is already underway. She said the city signed a 10-year memorandum of understanding for the project.
The reimagining spaces project is part of NCW Libraries’ mission to help libraries within the rural library district implement services based on each community’s needs.
“We’ve secured approximately $1.5 million to invest in interior improvements to the Omak Library building,” Walters said. “Termination of the library services contract would put this funding at risk and may negatively impact both the city and NCW Libraries’ eligibility for future grants.”
She added that the library is an important resource for the rural community, particularly for young children learning to read or attending programs in hopes of making friends, a point echoed by many young constituents at the city council meeting.
Walters said in 2025 the library’s foot traffic was 34,000, with nearly 500 new library cards issued and over 200 programs attended by almost 2,000 participants. She added participation in events increased by at least 200 people from the year before.
“I had one real friend in my childhood before COVID struck, and I was stuck in my lonesome home for a good three years,” said a home-schooled student at the meeting. “One day, my father thought it was a good idea to get out of the house, so he threw me and my brother into the car so we could get away from our screens, and drove me to the nearest place he found on Google.”
“When I arrived at the library, I thought it was a magical place,” the student continued.
Walters said it was helpful to hear Gagne’s public statements in support of the library at the city council meeting and she is optimistic they will reach an agreement.
