BY KAREN BOSSICK

Vietnamese banh mi bowls stretched across tables under the evening sky as nearly 50 Wood River Valley residents gathered at the Hailey Public Library to celebrate an unlikely but powerful partnership—one that has fed over 1,200 children this summer and now hopes to secure the financial future of local libraries.

The Saturday evening community meal, hosted jointly by the Hailey Public Library and the Hunger Coalition, served as both celebration and gentle call to action.

Director Lee Dabney apologized for the awkward angle of the welcome sign as guests settled into their seats, but her message was clear: "This isn't a fundraiser. It's really just a celebration of community."

Lee Dabney, children’s librarian at the Hailey Public Library, told those in attendance about the drive to create a library district.

That community spirit has taken tangible form through the partnership between the library and the Hunger Coalition, which operates under the tagline "Building Community Through Food." This summer marked the second year that the Hunger Coalition's food truck visited the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays, providing free nutritious lunches to children when school meals weren't available.

"We served about 1,200 kids again this summer," Dabney said, referring to the program that has become a cornerstone of the library's summer offerings.

In fact, the numbers tell a story of growing need and community response: More than 1,600 snacks and 1,100 lunches distributed through the library in the past year alone.

Amanda Lee, the Hunger Coalition's community kitchen supervisor, knows the library well—she worked there as a page during high school before returning to the valley as an adult to raise her now five-year-old son.

Attendees avail themselves of fresh fruit juice.

"It has been a joy to be welcomed back into this community as an adult," she told the gathered crowd. "I've been coming into this library for 25 years with some stints away, but it's kind of crazy to think about that."

The evening's meal, featuring vegetarian and gluten-free Vietnamese-inspired bowls, represented a scaled-down version of the twice-weekly community meals the Hunger Coalition hosts at their own facility. Everything would be composted afterward, organizers noted, reinforcing the sustainability focus that runs through both organizations' work.

But beyond celebrating their successful collaboration, the evening carried an undertone of urgency. Both the Hailey Public Library and the Bellevue Library are working toward forming a library district—a move that would fundamentally change how libraries are funded in the southern Wood River Valley.

"Library districts are tax-supported through a levy way of funding libraries beyond municipal libraries that are funded by the cities," explained the library’s Associate Director Lee Dabney, who noted that 70% of Idaho libraries already operate under district funding models. "It's been proven that it's the most efficient and sustainable way to maintain libraries financially."

People came together over a Vietnamese banh mi bowl.

The proposed district would stretch from East Fork and Greenhorn all the way to the south county boundaries, encompassing a much larger area than the current city-funded libraries serve. But getting the measure on the ballot requires collecting signatures from 20 percent of registered voters in that proposed district—somewhere between 1,900 and 2,000 signatures.

"This summer the state legislature changed the law," Dabney explained. "In the past, you needed 50 signatures to get on the ballot. Now we need 20 percentof the voters in our proposed district."

The change reflects a broader tension in municipal funding. State code restricts municipalities to roughly 3.4 percentannual increases in expenditures, and libraries often find themselves competing with fire, police, and infrastructure needs for limited city resources.

"Those are really important," Dabney acknowledged. "But that's why libraries need to find an alternative source of funding."

Jenna and Brooke Vagias were among those taking part.

For the Hailey library, the budget constraints are already showing. This year's budget was essentially flat, despite rising healthcare costs for employees and a 3 percent salary increase to align with inflation.

"Some things had to be cut," Dabney said. "In the library itself, resources and other types of things had to be cut because our budget didn't increase."

The district model would provide what Dabney calls "reliable and consistent funding," instead of annual budget negotiations with city councils. More importantly for daily operations, it would allow the libraries to expand their collaboration and services.

"You could go on the computer and say, ‘I want this book,’ and it's not available at the Hailey Library. But it would be available at the Bellevue Library, and we could get it for you," Dabney explained. A courier system would move materials between libraries, and residents throughout the district would have full access to both facilities regardless of which city they call home.

Currently, about a third of Hailey library cardholders live outside the municipality and pay fees to access services. Under a district system, they would receive full access through their property taxes.

The human impact of these changes resonates particularly with Dabney, who identifies as a children's librarian at heart. This summer, the library signed up 400 kids for summer reading programs.

“Amazing," she said, "but it is so crazy."

Additional funding could allow hiring seasonal help or expanding staff year-round.

"We love our jobs. We want to do them really well. Better funding makes us able to do that job better because we could have more people in the library serving our community," she said.

The library's role as an equitable space drives much of the district conversation.

"It's cradle to grave," Dabney noted. "It's like one of the first places that people bring their babies after they're born. We serve so many senior citizens that are on a fixed budget that maybe can't afford internet. People who are trying to find jobs—we have computers available."

Federal funding cuts have eliminated some technology-assistance programs that particularly served seniors, making local sustainability even more critical.

As the evening wound down and compost bins filled with empty bowls, the message remained clear: the library district represents not just financial stability, but an expansion of the community-building work already happening between organizations like the Hunger Coalition and local libraries.

"What we're trying to do here with this event is also just foster good will," Dabney said. "The library is valuable. We collaborate with a lot of different organizations in the valley. We're an intricate part of our community."

The petition drive continues, with volunteers available to answer questions and collect signatures. If successful, the district proposal will appear on the May ballot, giving voters the chance to decide the future of library services in the southern Wood River Valley.

"It kind of kills me to think about having to cut back," Dabney reflected. "I don't even know where we would start to cut back. I don't know how we would do it."