Sno-Isle Libraries asks Island County voters to restore levy funding
Island County voters will decide Aug. 4 whether Sno-Isle’s levy returns to 47 cents, a move that could preserve Whidbey hours, staffing and services.
Sno-Isle Libraries will ask voters across Island and Snohomish counties on Aug. 4 to restore its levy, a vote that will decide whether the district keeps current staffing, open hours and services or starts cutting back. The system serves more than 800,000 residents through 23 community libraries, online services, Library on Wheels and a service center, and ballots will be mailed July 17. Board trustees adopted the ballot resolution on March 23.
The proposal would restore the levy rate to $0.47 per $1,000 of assessed property value from the current $0.3039084203. That difference works out to about $16.61 a year for every $100,000 of assessed value, or about $83.05 on a $500,000 home. Levy funding makes up 91% of its $80.9 million 2026 operating budget, which the board adopted Nov. 24, 2025. The district last restored the levy in 2018.
Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Freeland, Langley and Clinton offer computers and laptop checkout, Wi-Fi and printing, while Langley and Coupeville also offer meeting space or rooms. Coupeville and Freeland offer telescope checkout through a partnership with the Island County Astronomical Society, and Sno-Isle also lets patrons check out Discover Passes through the catalog. Branch calendars include family storytimes, drop-in tech help and other programs throughout the week.
If voters approve the measure, Sno-Isle can keep staffing and open hours at current levels, continue Storytimes and Bookmobile visits, and keep access to computers, laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots and printing. If voters reject it, the district will have to reduce staffing, open hours, programming and access to devices and printing. The district’s public desktop computers and in-library laptops run Windows 11, and its library spaces also serve as daytime centers during extreme heat, recent cold events and power outages, where patrons use public Wi-Fi, charge devices and work on public computers. For job seekers, Sno-Isle’s online tools include live one-on-one academic coaching, a resume lab, practice tests and Northstar Digital Literacy help.
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