San Juan Island Library

About Us:

The San Juan Island Library is a learning center for the community: a place for people to pursue independent educational and recreational interests, to use information resources, and to meet and interact in a public forum.

History:

The predecessor to the San Juan Island Library District, the Friday Harbor Public Library, opened on February 4, 1922 in the American Legion building with books donated by the Bellingham American Legion and local citizens. The American Legion Auxiliary in 1924 began donating $100 per year to buy new books and continued this annual donation for fifty-nine years. In 1935, concerns about the safety of the American Legion building prompted a search for new quarters. The community constructed a one-story, concrete-block building with funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a depression-era program established to provide work for the unemployed. The 30’ x 85’ building, owned by the Town of Friday Harbor, cost less than $7,000 and was divided into two rooms. One room served as the Town Council meeting room and the other room served as the library, for which the town provided free rent and utilities.

By the late 70’s, the island's population had grown substantially, while the library's income failed to keep up with the population growth. This prompted the creation of a "Friends of the Library" group to help support the library financially. However, continuing financial problems and insufficient space prompted the creation of an island-wide library district. Voters approved the district in 1982, with an annual taxation rate of $0.50 per thousand dollars of assessed property value. The newly created Board of Trustees immediately began looking for larger quarters to house the library. The library district purchased the present site, a 4,500 square foot former restaurant, in 1983 and installed the library with minimal remodeling of the site. From April through September of 1988, the library occupied temporary quarters in the Moose Lodge while the building was remodeled. Funds for the remodel came from library savings and bank financing. The re-modeled building was dedicated in October 1988.In 1992 the Board initiating a long-range planning process to ensurethe library’s future viability. The result was a document entitled "Imagining the Future: San Juan Island Library Long Range Plan 1993-2000" that outlined the priorities which the library would address in the final years of the century.

One of the goals of this plan was to expand the library's existing facility. After close examination of the available funding options for expansion, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution that authorized a tax lid lift to be placed on the September 14, 1993 ballot. This lid lift (which passed with a 59% approval rating) enabled the library to collect the money necessary for the library expansion. In 1994 construction began on the library addition/renovation, which doubled the size of the library, from 4,500 sq. ft. to approximately 9,600 square feet. In February 1995, the expanded library reopened.