Before the Kitsap Regional Library begins drafting its strategic plan for 2010 to 2015, opportunities for residents to say what they want in the library system have, of course, been made available.

A meeting in the Port Orchard library is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Sept. 29.

So far, there don’t appear to be a great number of county residents with a desire to talk about the future operations of the library system.

Previous meetings in other places, including the Manchester library, have been lightly attended.

One might be tempted to conclude that few people care, but it’s more likely that few people consider their opinions to be of such extraordinary usefulness or novelty as to make it worthwhile to attend a meeting and speak up.

We generally have an idea what a library should do, since they’ve been a part of civilization for so long.

Dwelling on another round of adopting a “vision,” as though some revelation is at hand which will change the very nature of a library, can seem rather pointless.

Not until some choices have to be made would most folks take an interest, especially if a choice involves eliminating something they value or paying more to augment what is now offered.

Given a concrete proposal for change, or even an outline of expansion plans and estimated costs, many more people would probably decide that their opinions are worth stating whether they seem ordinary or not.

Rather than be discouraged or disappointed by low attendance at these meetings or a low number of responses to the online survey at the KRL homepage (http://www.krl.org/), the library system’s administration should expect less now and more later from the public.

And the public should expect more from the library’s strategic plan.

What are the options, and what would it take to implement one or more of them?

If new, larger library facilities are desired in places like Manchester, Port Orchard, and Silverdale, what would be the effect on KRL’s operating costs?

Most people are aware that the annual increases in KRL’s property tax revenue, absent a voter-approved “lid lift,” could hardly be expected to pay for expanded operations.

A strategic plan that merely hints at such an expansion without estimates of the additional revenue needed to pay for it wouldn’t be helpful.

Looking back at the lid lift ballot measure rejected by the county’s voters in 2007, one ought to be able to figure out that the absence of explanations for the large revenue increase made voter approval less likely.

Just as important would be an explanation of the way new buildings could be funded. If capital facilities districts are needed, like the one in the area around Poulsbo that is paying for that city’s library building, what would they look like?

The 2007 lid lift proposition was misunderstood by some voters as a way to pay for constructing new library facilities; but it was for operating expenditures, not construction costs.

It’s probably impossible to know whether this confusion helped or hindered the attempt to gain voter approval, but misunderstandings are often a hindrance.

Rather than shy away from talking about the need for additional revenues for construction and operations to implement the next five-year plan, KRL needs to emphasize the funding aspect.

And, rather than assume that the few who comment represent a consensus view, KRL ought to expect that many of the ideas suggested by the few will indeed be visionary — that is, impractical.

If done well, the next strategic plan would describe more than generalized goals and objectives.

It would start with an outline of KRL’s operations in the next few years with no voter-approved revenue increases for operations or construction, then continue with options for expansion and their costs.

Some of the options in the plan may not be funded, but it’s never too early for the taxpayers to give them some serious thought.

Bob Meadows is a Port Orchard resident.