The Kingston Library is not a good place for the claustrophobic. While an optimist might call the 1,200-square-foot space “intimate,” it’s hard to avoid the fact that the town has outgrown its library.

So it’s encouraging to see this spring that the energy to build a new branch didn’t die with the library tax increase proposal last fall. The ambitious capital improvement package put forward by Kitsap Regional Library included money for a standalone Kingston branch on the Village Green campus. It was shot down by voters countywide, but received decent support from North Kitsap residents.

Now it appears the levy failure was only a speed bump in the march to a new facility. Village Green proponents have resurrected the pre-levy proposal plan of building a 4,000-square-foot new library as a wing of the planned community center (see page 1). The Village Green Foundation will include it in its fundraising goal and the Library Foundation will raise money to furnish the branch. The design of the building will allow the library wing to expand when the money becomes available.

Its a good solution, and may have been the best solution all along. History has taught us that libraries don’t need to be architectural wonders to be treasured by the community (Ever been inside the Seattle Public Library?) They just need to be friendly and functional. It’s the ideas fostered inside that make libraries indispensable.

Attaching the library to the community center will allow for shared bathrooms and meeting rooms, making the entire project more efficient. It will link the library to a vibrant new community. It will be down the hall from a Boys & Girls Club and a senior center. Library patrons will mingle with youngsters and elders. The mix of generations and sharing of knowledge will be natural and nurturing. And that’s what a library is all about.