Whoa! First year in our new digs, a most inviting, inclusive and roomy place indeed! Even when closed, patrons check out requested items in the Library Express cubicle, open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. WIFI is available 24/7 in and around the building. Inside, comfortable seating and accommodating librarians await! All made possible by our local Friends group, donators, and county library system.
Celebrating 75 years of service to this community, the Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) and its Point Roberts branch opened on November 7, 1946. So, system-wide on November 7, we had a fine party, with cupcakes for all, and, in our new meeting room, a panel discussion about the next 75 years. A list of past and present librarians and their helpers includes many still living here: Lola Loreen, Margot Griffiths, Terry Zukovic, Terry Chan, Val Loreen, Ogn Magnusson, and Shelley Damewood. A slide show included interviews with Bunny and Maureen Meikle, Sylvia Schonberg, and Pauli DeHaan, and is also available to view online.
The airy meeting room seats about 30 and can be reserved online, or in person for an after-hours event. So far, uses included Tiny Ted Talks, Popcorn Movie Nights, book club, author talks, weekly Knit Nights, board meetings, Friend’s meetings, Spanish practice, children’s programs, free legal advice sessions and a joke-telling contest. Soon there will be coffee!
An inviting sunlit corner at the back provides a cozy spot to read or gaze at the community gardens. Many books and learning games all at child level make kids welcome, and teens/tweens have a nook with drawing pads and pencils as well. A great spot to compose a poem for the yearly Forest of Words booklets, or to create an inspired image for Whatcomics, another local teen publication.
Quarterly library programs offered county-wide are listed in the complimentary booklet Explorations, which includes hours, policies and recommendations. Saturday mornings began with a half hour of pre-school stories. A special pajama story time with children’s librarian Thom Barthelmess thrilled little hearts. Kids this year got to hear an astronaut speak, read to dogs, read to Icelandic horses (in English), make masks and other crafts, hear a children’s author speak, as well as listen to and celebrate the 100th year of Children’s Book Week. Kids can also send a postcard to a favorite author using the bright blue mailbox, and they will be answered!
Summer Reading Bingo cards allow everyone to win and the special prize: A brand new book! School time brings bi-monthly visits from the local primary school. Students hear a story and learn to use self check-out and how to request items online.
Our staff of four continually learn new technical procedures and updates to help make library experience go smoothly. We also received training in dealing with the homeless, CPR and first aid, new online services (free movies, music, e-books, Consumer Reports, etc.), and mind reading. Not the last one! But we try.
Good news for the new year: All your fines will be forgiven! Worthy reads: for last summer Whatcom County chose My Old Man and the Mountain, by Leif Whittaker; for this coming year, The Bright Edge of the World, by Eowyn Ivey. Find us at wcls.org.
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