Now comes The Commons

After the new library opened several years ago, the Friends of the Library next addressed the problem of our used book sales. We had been using the old firehall to store the many boxes of used books supplied by the community, but now the old firehall was no more.

After some puzzling, the Friends decided to ask the park and recreation district if it would allow us to use the back room at the community center which had recently been vacated by the Historical Society to set up some book shelves for the used books and to set up a space to be used a few times a week as a place where people could drop in for a cup of coffee, peruse the books, and talk with other people interested in books and in conversing about them or whatever else they might want to talk about. And thus The Commons was born.

It took over a year to work out the problem of furnishings because the park and recreation district reasonably wanted to be able to use the room for other purposes, including their own meetings. Ultimately, they replaced the much worn eight-foot table with a pair of smaller tables, and the Friends obtained half of a dozen comfortable chairs, a screen and attached bookshelves to the east and west walls. We had yet to obtain a coffee machine, cart and such and were anticipating opening The Commons in the spring of 2020.

And then came Covid-19 and all its limitations on everyday life and The Commons stayed on hold. In July of 2021, when things looked considerably improved, we decided we could safely open. There were no cases of Covid-19 on the Point and we did not need to wear masks, so could actually drink a cup of coffee together. We had special guests to talk about particular topics, and we were encouraged by the numbers of people who showed up those first eight weeks.

We all had a good time. And then came the Delta variant of Covid-19 and a number of positive Covid-19 tests in Point Roberts. So we closed The Commons for a few weeks. Now, with no positive tests showing up for the past three weeks, we are open again on Saturdays, from noon to 2:30 p.m., with masks required and no coffee. But we still have the used books and the conversation flows freely.

It’s a week-to-week operation right now, but we announce each week on social media whether The Commons will be open. We thank all of you who have come by over these past three months and hope to see even more of you in the months to come. This may be the difficult beginning of a Point Roberts institution.