Library request for image project denied

Whitman County commissioners Monday denied a request from the Whitman County Library for additional funding for a project to digitize and display historic images of the county.

Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick requested $2,000 because a sponsor that had pledged to help pay for the cost of the project dropped out.

The requested county funds would have come out of the county’s Historic Preservation fund. Commissioners later said they wanted to build up their historic preservation grants fund balance for another round of grants in the future.

While moving to deny the request, Commissioner Pat O’Neill noted the library received a $9,000 historic preservation grant for the project in April. The grant was half of the $18,000 made available by county commissioners to three successful applicants.

The library plans to make two sets of posters of historic Whitman County images, one that would hang in the courthouse and one that would be set up in places throughout the county.

Despite commissioners’ denial, Kirkpatrick said the library will continue to move the project forward.

“It’s just such a nice opportunity to have some long-lasting art in the courthouse,” she said Tuesday. “But you know me, I won’t give up. I think we’re going to pursue some corporate sponsorships to get this done.”

Kirkpatrick said Creative Image portrait studio of Pullman has committed to turning scanned pictures into posters, matting the posters and putting them in wooden frames.

Also receiving Historic Preservation grants were Rosalia and the Whitman County Historical Society. The grant awards left just over $4,000 in the historic preservation fund which derives from part of the fee charged for recording documents at the county auditor’s office.