Why are so many Timberland library employees requesting leave from their jobs?

Timberland Regional Library recently held a special meeting this month to discuss its challenging budget situation — a meeting that was attended by more than 200 people and lasted more than three hours — and during it an eye-opening number was disclosed.

In 2025, 32% of its staff — 77 of 240 employees — requested paid leave through the Washington state Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) program. And then to start 2026, the five-county library system, which is headquartered in Tumwater, has so far received 33 requests through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), according to library information.

And those numbers have been even higher in previous years, said Kandy Seldin, the library system’s HR administrator. She didn’t specify which programs they fell under, but 91 employees requested some form of leave in 2024 and 98 employees did the same in 2023, said Seldin during the meeting Feb. 10.

For perspective: 98 of 240 employees is 41% of the staff.

Those numbers have had a financial impact on the library as it wrestles with a $3.8 million budget deficit and contemplates layoffs, which could take effect May 1, Timberland previously announced.

“I will say that as an organization, we do have a much higher threshold of people who use (leave) compared to other organizations — nearly four times the state average (for PFML) — and we have to staff in those instances, even though those people may be on paid leave that Timberland is paying for,” said Timberland finance administrator Paige Preston during the meeting. “So essentially, we are double-dipping salaries in those kinds of circumstances.”

Those numbers got the attention of library trustees at the meeting and at least one public commenter who suggested the library might have a culture problem.

It also prompted The Olympian to inquire about the number of people requesting leave. It was a question that didn’t come with a very easy answer.

Why do employees request leave?

“Employees can apply for FMLA and Washington (state) Paid Family Medical Leave for a variety of reasons, including their own serious health condition or to care for a family member,” said library spokeswoman Anna Lisa Rasmussen in an email. “TRL is legally obligated to approve FMLA for eligible employees with a qualifying reason and documentation from their medical provider.”

Rasmussen declined to offer perspective on the high number of staff requesting leave.

“We are unable to discuss specific reasons why individuals apply for these benefits and do not wish to generalize out of respect for employee privacy,” she wrote.

The Olympian also reached out to trustees directly and via email and heard from Lewis County Trustee Brian Mittge.

“There are important legal and medical privacy protections around PFML, so I’m going to have to direct your questions to TRL staff,” he said.

Current and former library employees declined to comment about the situation.

Beth Gawne, a staff representative of the union that represents library workers, didn’t want to speak directly to the situation at Timberland, but did offer some perspective on what it means to be a “library worker in the modern era.”

“It’s not just about reading books and talking about books anymore,” she said.

Library workers have been confronted by the politics surrounding book-banning, or are helping the unhoused, she said.

“All the different things they have to handle day to day, such as outreach, programming, disruptive patrons; that’s the nature of the job now,” she said.