Timberland Library board votes to accept Executive Director Heywood’s resignation

The Timberland Regional Library Board of Trustees voted toward the end of a four-hour meeting on Wednesday to accept Executive Director Cheryl Heywood’s resignation letter, ending a nearly 30-year attachment to the five-county system, including more than a dozen years as its leader.

The board announced that it had received the letter at the beginning of Wednesday’s gathering, then shortly before 9:30 p.m. Trustee Dustin Loup took action to accept it.

“I would like to motion that we accept the resignation letter from Cheryl Heywood, current executive director, that would be effective as of June 30, 2026, and that effective immediately she be released from her duties with pay for the remainder of her employment.”

The board is now set to meet Monday to discuss interim leadership.

“I do want to acknowledge that Cheryl worked for Timberland for a long time,” said Trustee Brian Mittge. “We’re going to be moving forward to address the challenges facing TRL.”

He also thanked the more than 200 people who watched the online meeting.

“We’re hearing the dedication and support that you have for your local libraries and for our Timberland Regional Library system as a whole,” Mittge said. “So we’re going to keep moving forward on that.”

Trustee Hal Blanton said Heywood always made sure libraries were good and accessible.

“I want to thank her for her service and that we appreciate it,” he said. “And Godspeed on how she moves into that next season in life. I think that’s important.”

Was this the hardest year of Heywood’s long tenure? Perhaps. The five-county library district, which is headquartered in Tumwater, faced a $3.8 million shortfall in its budget due to rising costs and flat revenue, which ultimately resulted in 61 layoffs, both involuntary and voluntary. The involuntary layoffs are set to take effect in May.

The total layoffs amount to a 25% cut, based on a staff total previously identified at 240 people.

Residents and patrons have reacted in anger to those cuts, sharing their displeasure on social media and during public comment at board meetings, which have recently been watched by hundreds of people.

Among Wednesday’s observers: Former Timberland employee Rachelle Martin, who now is the president of the Thurston Lewis Mason Central Labor Council.

She felt a mixture of emotions because she used to work for Heywood when she was manager of the downtown Olympia library branch.

“I have a great deal of affection for her,” Martin said. “I really like her and respect her, but it’s heartbreaking to see her so far from the person I used to know.”

Martin considers her a good executive director, although she expressed concerns about the other administrators at TRL.

“The resignation is not going to solve this problem,” she added.

Who would she like to see as the next executive director?

It shouldn’t be an outsider, but ideally someone who used to work for Timberland, Martin said.

That way they will come from a place of empathy for the library district and be prepared to repair relationships, she said.

This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 8:57 PM.